CIM28

international magazine
n28
Quarterly
January 2013
advancing the frontiers
Spotlight
Elyse Treaty
50th Anniversary
w
In the News
Serge Haroche
2012 Nobel Laureate
w
BIG DATA
REvoLuTioN
The
N28 I quarterly I JaNuary 2013
3 Contents |
Editorial
By Mark asch, MatheMatIcs & hPc scIeNtIfIc
OffIcer at the freNch MINIstry Of hIgher
educatION aNd research
Big Data is a new scientifc discipline
with enormous societal challenges
(including genomics, health, global
warming, smart cities) that acts as a
driving force for research. In this sense,
data can be considered to be a shared
infrastructure facilitating research at
national, European, and international
levels. Te European Commission has
recently funded four pilot projects
within the framework of the European
St rategy Forum on Research
Infrastructures (ESFRI) to form data
clusters in the life sciences, environmen-
tal sciences, and particle physics. Te
Research Data Alliance is an attempt to
federate these eforts around digital in-
formation at the international level. Te
aim is to set up working groups and a
plenary that will advise on certifcation,
standards, and best practice.
CNRS plays an active role in the Big
Data revolution. In May 2012, it laun-
ched Mastodons, a dedicated interdisci-
plinary grand challenge planned to run
for fve years, which will fund crosscut-
ting research projects that tackle the
emerging feld of large data masses, its
methods and applications.
With its far-reaching multidisci-
plinary expertise, CNRS is uniquely po-
sitioned to take up the challenge. As such,
we expect to become a world leader in
this exciting albeit complex domain.
4 I 5 In the News
2012 Nobel Prize in Physics Serge
Haroche, Earth Sciences Summit,
The ESOs 50
th
anniversary, CNRS
tops international rankings.
17 Innovation
Bioelectronic sensors for
diabetes patients and a new
DNA sequencing method.
28 I 30 In Images
Inside Frances prestigious center
for heritage preservation.
31 Insights
Shale gas extraction: alternatives
needed.
32 I 37 CNRS Networks
CNRS and MIT joint research on
porous materials, Microfuidics,
and research in Australia and
New Zealand.
38 CNRS Facts and
Figures
Latest data on the largest
fundamental scientifc
institution in Europe.
39 Snapshot
How plants grow roots.
these pictograms indicate
extra content (pictures or videos)
that can be accessed on the
online version of the magazine.
> www.cnrs.fr/cnrsmagazine

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6 I 16 Live from the Labs
The Elyse Treaty turns 50, Writing with your
eyes, SPIPOLL, Taming nitrenes, New cosmic
rays, Electronic tongues that can see,
Scarring cells, Better cancer treatments,
and Bio-inspired computing memory.

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18 I 19 Profle
Anthropologist
Philippe Descola is
awarded the 2012
CNRS gold Medal.
20 I 27 Focus
The Big Data Revolution
21 I A New Challenge
24 I Coping with a Data Deluge
26 I Data Storage: a Teething Problem

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in your inbox, em
ail us at:
cnrs-m
agazine@
cnrs-dir.fr

| In the News
cnrs I InternatIonal magazIne
4 w
Earth Sciences Summit
WOn November 29, 2012, government
representatives from 13 European countries met
at CNRS headquarters to endorse the concept of the
future European Plate Observing System (EPOS), an
infrastructure dedicated to the Earth sciences. The
objective is to give researchers easy access to data from
numerous observation systems (seismological networks,
volcano observatories, etc.), digital simulations, and
experimental analytical systems across Europe. To do so,
EPOS seeks to integrate data from facilities that are both
geographically and thematically distant into a single
European-wide resource. The French contribution,
overseen by CNRSs INSU,
1
involves numerous
infrastructures, notably Resif, the French seismological
and geodesic network. The EPOS preparation phase
should be completed by 2014.
01. Institut national des sciences de lunivers.
FurthEr INFOrmatION .
> www.mudam.lu
> www.michelpaysant.fr
ESO turns 50
Wthe European Southern Observatory (ESO)
celebrated its 50th anniversary last October.
Supported by 15 member states, the organization
gives the scientifc community access to top-level
astronomical resources such as the Very Large
telescope (VLt), the alma observatory, or the future
European Extremely Large telescope (EELt). France
is one of the ESOs founding countries and the
second-largest contributor after Germany.
Was in 2011, CNrS is among the worlds 100 most innovative
companies and organizations according to the 2012 top 100 Global
Innovators list published by thomson reuters last December.
the list is based on several criteria including the number of patent
applications, their success rate, and the international scope of
patent portfolios. France ranked third worldwide, with a total
of 13 companies and public institutions.
in the Top 100
for Innovation...
> http://top100innovators.com
W again this year, CNrS is the main European research organization
to host ErC grant laureates, ahead of Britains university of
Cambridge and Germanys max Planck Society, which rank second
and third respectively. Since the ErC program was created in 2007,
172 researchers, whether young or senior, have carried out their
projects at CNrS, making the institution the frst benefciary of this
research program.
and 1st Recipient
of ERC Grants
Wthis year, CNrS moved back from second to frst place in the
Scimago ranking. this system, created by Spanish and Portuguese
researchers, records the number of publications by research
institutions between 2006 and 2010. the Chinese and russian
academies of Sciences ranked second and third, respectively.
CNRS, Leading
Publisher Worldwide...
> www.scimagoir.com
cnrs makes the headlines i
Root Growth
Wthe emergence of lateral roots in the plant Arabidopsis
thaliana is regulated by aquaporins, the membrane
channel proteins that facilitate water movements within
cell membranes.
1
this result, obtained by an
international team associating French researchers from
CNrS and Inra,
2
to labs from Germany, Spain, and the
uK, may help optimize root growth.
01. B. Pret et al., Nat. Cell Biol., 2012. 14: 9918.
02. Institut national de la recherche agronomique.
q aerial view of the
esos Very large
telescope (Vlt) at
Paranal (chile).

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5 In the News |
n28 I quarterly I January 2013
h
aroche, 68, a researcher at the Laboratoire
Kastler-Brossel (LKB)
1
and a professor at the
Collge de France, specializes in atomic physics
and quantum optics. He is one of the pioneers of
cavity quantum electrodynamics, which consists in studying
the interactions between a single atom and a few photons
contained in a box, or cavity. Te Nobel laureates have
paved the way for a new era of experimentation in quantum
physics by demonstrating the direct observation of individual
quantum particles without destroying them, said the Nobel
Committee. Trough their ingenious laboratory methods,
Haroche and Winelandtogether with their research
groupshave managed to measure and control very fragile
quantum states considered inaccessible for direct observation.
In 2009, when Haroche was awarded the CNRS Gold
Medal, Frances most prestigious scientifc distinction, he
modestly explained that despite the complexity of the
set-up, the underlying physical theory is actually very
simple, albeit difcult to express without using equations.
You need a basic grasp of maths, he admitted.
In fact, it was maths that Haroche frst studied, before
specializing in physics at the cole Normale Suprieure
(ENS) in Paris, which he joined in 1963. Afer leaving the
ENS, he began his career at CNRS, where his research played
a signifcant role in reconciling the microscopic quantum
world with the macroscopic classical world. During the
1970s and 1980s, he developed new laser spectroscopy
methods based on the study of quantum beats and
superradiance. He then became interested in Rydberg atoms,
giant atomic systems whose sensitivity to microwaves makes
them particularly well suited to fundamental research into
matter-radiation interaction.
Haroches own words best illustrate the common thread
running through his career: I have always endeavored to
carry out experiments involving atoms and photons in
exotic situations not usually found in nature. I have tried to
make use of these situations to decipher fundamental
phenomena, and to develop new tools to investigate matter
and radiation.
Haroches work, enabled by ongoing technological
advances, has made it possible to experimentally verify
certain postulates of the physics of the infnitely small by
drawing inspiration from the thought experiments devised
by Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr.
For CNRS President Alain Fuchs, this Nobel Prize
rewards pioneering work carried out over the long
term, combining fundamental understanding with
experimental skills.
01. CNRS / ENS / Universit Paris-VI.
q serge Haroche
receiving his nobel
Prize from His
majesty King carl XVI
gustaf of sweden at
the stockholm
concert Hall on
December 10, 2012.
Serge Haroche,
Nobel Prize in Physics 2012
On december 10, 2012, in Stockholm,
Serge Haroche received the Nobel Prize
in Physics, jointly with the american
physicist david Wineland, for their work
in quantum physics.
A photo gallery is
available on the online
version of the magazine.
> www.cnrs.fr/
cnrsmagazine

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6 w Spotlight | Live from the Labs
interview by laure caIlloce
On January 22, 1963, German
Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and
French President Charles de Gaulle
signed the elyse treaty, the offcial
document codifying post-war
Franco-German reconciliation. How
did it come about?
Corine Defrance: Te Elyse Treaty was
a bilateral treaty of rapprochement
between France and Germany, setting
objectives for increased cooperation
between the two countries. The term
reconciliation is not used in the text it-
self, but is mentioned in the joint declara-
tion issued by Adenauer and De Gaulle.
Afer nearly a century of rivalry and three
wars, the resentment between France and
Germany was stronger than ever in 1945,
and each country saw the other as a
hereditary enemy. To ensure lasting
peace in Europe, this image needed to be
dispelled once and for all. But first,
groundwork needed to be done in both
countries to prepare public opinion. It
was only afer the state visits of 1962by
Adenauer to Rheims in July and De
Gaulle to Germany in Septemberthat a
project of French-German cooperation
was proposed. De Gaulles tour of
Germany was a triumph, and his speeches
in Germanthe language of the enemy
that he had learned as an ofcermade a
strong impression. Memoranda were exchanged in the autumn
of 1962. Just three days before signing the fnal document,
Adenauer suggested to De Gaulle that they make it a full-fedged
diplomatic treaty, a much more binding agreement that would
have to be ratifed by the parliaments of both countries.
Does this mean that there had been little to no Franco-
German cooperation before 1963?
C.D.: Te notion that everything started with the Elyse Treaty
is part of the De Gaulle myth. But a number of initiatives had
begun immediately afer the war, including by the French mili-
tary government in Germany. In 1950, the Schuman Plan
1
was
a historic step towards closer political and economic ties
between France and the new Federal Republic of Germany
(FRG), and the blueprint for a European community.
In civil society as well, actions to admonish lasting resentment
were taken by various mediators, including many former French
Resistance fghters who had kept contact with the German
Elyse Treaty January 22, 2013, will mark the 50th anniversary of the Elyse Treaty.
Historian Corine Defrance looks back on this historic European milestone.
50 years of
Franco-German Friendship
7 w Live from the Labs | Spotlight
democracy activists they had met as co-prisoners in concentra-
tion camps. Trough associations like the French Committee
for Exchanges with the New Germany and BILD (International
Liaison and Documentation Bureau), they published reviews
and organized conferences to present their respective countries.
Town twinning also predated the Elyse Treaty, starting in 1950
with Montbliard and the German city of Ludwigsburg, where
De Gaulle delivered his famous address to Germanys youth on
September 9, 1962.
the treaty was signed only a few months later. which
specifc areas of cooperation did it cover?
C.D.: Te treaty itself was a short document. Te frst section
established the principle of regular consultation in the form of
bi-annual Franco-German summit meetings. Initially, these
involved heads of state and a few ministers, but they would later
include all levels of the two governments. Cooperation was
limited to three areas: foreign policy, defense/security, and
education and youth. At frst, the youth programs were the
only ones that produced visible results. Te Franco-German
Youth Ofce (OFAJ), founded at the frst summit meeting in
July 1963, brought more than a million young people together
in just fve years. As of today, 8 million youths from all social
backgrounds have benefted from these programs.
what about other cooperative efforts?
C.D.: Te frst decade proved a difcult one, but the era of Valry
Giscard dEstaing and Helmut Schmidt, immediately followed
by the Franois Mitterrand-Helmut Kohl period, ushered in a
phase of close relations. Tis led to the substantial development
of cooperation in the areas of education and culture, which were
not included in the original treaty. Te idea of a Franco-German
television network, Arte, was proposed in 1986, and its frst
broadcast was in 1992. Cooperation in higher education and
research took of in 1988, with the development of integrated
Franco-German degree programs, which now involve 180
establishments and more than 5000 students on both sides of
the border. Joint research organizations like the Marc Bloch
Center
2
in Berlin were also established. As for secondary educa-
tion, the so-called Abi-bac classes were created in the early
1990s, to help students prepare for the fnal high-school exam
baccalaureat/Abitur in both countries. Finally, European
classes, in which subjects like history and geography are taught
in the partners language, were created.
there seems to have been much less progress in areas like
defense or international relations
C.D.: Tings got of to a slow start due to basic diferences in how
the countries operated. During the Cold War, the FRG had very
close ties with the US and NATO, while France was more
independent. Yet there was cooperation in certain areas, like
armament or joint military exercise, and some highly symbolic
initiatives were undertaken, such as the creation of the Franco-
German Brigade in 1989, bringing together nearly 5000 troops.
A turning point came in 2003, when the two countries expressed
their opposition to the invasion of Iraq. As a result, France and
Germany decided to hold special celebrations for the 40th
anniversary of the Elyse Treaty. Te French and German
parliaments thus met for an extraordinary session in Versailles.
The partners decided to establish the Elyse Fund, which
fnances Franco-German cultural projects in other countries.
Starting in the 1970s, the two nations laid the foundations for
the European Monetary System, initiated by Giscard dEstaing
and Schmidt, and later the euro, which was promoted by
Mitterrand and Kohl. In fact, it seems that Mitterrand made the
common currency a condition for German reunifcation.
How can the Franco-German relationship be defned
today? And what is the future of this cooperation within
the europe of 27?
C.D.: Tere is now a real paradox. On the one hand, Franco-
German relations are at risk of being taken for granted.
The younger French generations who grew up with this
close cooperation see no reason to strengthen ties with Germany
rather than with Greece or Italy, for example. On the other
hand, the Franco-German powerhouse has never been
more vital to Europes well-being. In these highly unstable
economic times, I cant think of any other countries that could
play this role.
01. Named after French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman.
02. UMIFRE (joint unit of French research institutes abroad) involving CNRS and the
French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
03. Identits, relations internationales et civilisations de lEurope (CNRS / Universits
Paris-I and IV).
contact InformatIon:
IrIce, Paris.
Corine Defrance
> corine.defrance@wanadoo.fr
The notion
that everything
started with
the Elyse Treaty
is part of the
De Gaulle myth.
q the triumphant
1962 visit to germany
of President De
gaulle (left), here in
Bonn with
chancellor adenauer
(right).
q corine Defrance,
historian at the IrIce lab.
3

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Live from the Labs
8 w
BY eddy delcher
E
ye writing systems that let users
select letters and symbols on a
screen have existed for years, but
EOL, short for Eye OnLine, goes much
further. Te system, developed by Jean
Lorenceau and his team at the CRICM,
1

allows subjects to draw with their eyes as
if using a pen on paper. Te main chal-
lenge in creating such a device lies in the
eyes inability to generate smooth trajec-
tories in front of a static background,
resulting instead in saccadic movements.
Tis is where the optical illusion, known
as reverse-phi,
2
comes into play.
Reverse-phi is achieved when an
image and its negative are shown in rapid
succession, creating the optical illusion of
movement. Lorenceau found this tech-
nique could be used to create a seemingly
moving background, in turn making
smooth eye movements possible.
3
In his
system, several hundred disks fickering
at a frequency of 10 to 15 Hz are displayed
on a screen. Any eye movement
produced while looking at it triggers
the illusion and tricks users into believing
the screen is moving with their eyes.
An oculometer tracks pupil movements,
which sofware recreates on a computer
screen. Tree to fve 30-minute training
sessions are needed to control eye move-
ments and write letters. It takes some
efort as one must frst see and select the
illusion as a support for the eyes
before attempting to draw letters.
Te concentration required can also be
tiring, and difcult actions, such as cross-
ing the letter t, may not be correctly
processed by the computer at this early
stage, explains Lorenceau. But with
enough training, users can develop au-
tomatisms to ease the process and reach
handwriting speeds.
Te system will soon be tested by
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. It
could help people affected by limb
'eoce / oca uso, o: whch o :acca use hao :evousy bee ouo,
s a he hea: o a ew eye w:g sysem oeveoeo by a CNRS :esea:ch eam
Writing with you: Lyes
crIcm, Paris.
Jean Lorenceau
> jean.lorenceau@upmc.fr
Lv:ome
BY fuI lee luk
wIn 2010, ordinary citizens teamed up
with naturalists :om he CLRS
l
ao
he OL
2
o auch he hoog:ahc
Su:vey o owe: \so:s SOLL}
3
Ths
cze scece :o[ec s :aces :s
cou:ywoe obse:vao:y o oao:s,
secs ha he e:ze as C:uca
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oao:s eeo o be moo:eo as
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h:eae he: habas SOLLs :s
ogs, :ecey aayzeo by CLRS
OL :esea:che:s, sugges ways o boos
sec ouaos
^
q researcher Jean lorenceau wearing the oculometer that he developed to convert
pupil movements into handwriting (visible on screen).
Paris

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paralysis express themselves in a more
independent manner through personal-
ized writing and signatures. It could also
help dyslexic children become more
aware of their eye movements when read-
ing, in turn providing a better under-
standing of how dyslexia works to fght it
more efectively.
We are still at an early stage of devel-
opment, as several technical issues have
to be resolved before an eye-controlled
tablet is produced, but it is theoretically
possible. In the future, surgeons could use
eye control as a third hand, for example,
or tennis players could use it to better
track a ball, concludes Lorenceau.
0l Ce:e oe :eche:che oe su ou ce:veau e oe a
moee ee:e CNRS / U'C / se:m}
02 S' /ss, h moveme as a sub:acve
:ocess, Vision Research, l90 l0 l^ll30
03 } Lo:eceau, Cu:sve w:g wh smooh u:su
eye movemes, Current Biology, 20l2 22 l0o9
Citizen Science Project Surveys Pollinators
A video can be viewed on the online
9 Live from the Labs w
Taming Nitrenes
BY mark reynolds
wNitrenes are the giant squids and
snow leopards of chemistryso eu
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au:e s ke amg wo amas, exas
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Because :ees a:e mo:a o so
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obvous e:es o chemss
To sabze :ees, Be::ao ao hs
eam booeo hem wh a hosho:ous
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eec:o ooo: Ths o:meo a s:og
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saby The :esug hosho:ee
:eas some o he :eacvy o :ees,
bu :emas sabe he soo ao cuo
saes a :oom eme:au:es
The ew comouo mgh se:ve as a
:oge :eage, abe o :ase: :o
ge aoms o o:gac subsaces, hus
aowg he c:eao o a ew amy o
chemcas The :eceoes a:e :omsg
Be::aos sabzao o ca:bees wo
oecaoes ago eo o a housaooo
c:ease ca:bee:eaeo ae:s ao
aes ubsheo each yea:
Whe he acaos o :ee sa
bzao a:e mossbe o :eoc, he
sasaco o havg acheveo o: he
:s me s easy o: Be::ao o oesc:be
ees ke beg he :s ma o wak
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0l }o Resea:ch U bewee CNRS ao he
Uve:sy o Cao:a, Sa Dego
02 Dema e a, / C:ysae Sge
hosho:ee a N:oge /om T:ase: /ge,
Science, 20l2 33 l2o8
Chems:y
Joint research chemistry laboratory, la Jolla.
Guy Bertrand
> guybertrand@ucsd.edu
cersP, Paris.
Nicolas Deguines
> deguines@mnhn.fr
Showcasg he owe: o cze sc
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yes The ohe: o:oe:s obse:veo
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Cze Scece, PLOS ONE, 20l2 9} e^822
q Halictidae
bees (01),
soldier beetle
Rhagonycha
fulva (02), and
the butterfy
Anthocharis
cardamines (03).
q nitrene structure
obtained by X-ray
crystallography,
showing nitrogen
(blue), phosphorous
(red), and carbon
(black) atoms.
Paris
D
R
02
01
03
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Live from the Labs
l0 w
BY tom rIdgway
wA century ago, physicist Victor Franz Hess
discovered ha hghseeo a:cesaomc u
ce o: eec:oswe:e :eachg he La:h :om he
'ky Way These cosmc :ays, as hey we:e ae:
caeo, a:e beeveo o be sue:cha:geo wh kec
ee:gy by he shockwaves o sue:ovae exo
sos, whch aows hem o ass h:ough soa: wos
ao ee:ae he e: Soa: Sysem Cosmc :ays
wh owe: ee:gy evesess ha ha a bo
eec:ovoshave :oveo ha:oe: o o ao
suoy as hey eve: :each ou: Sysem Now,
\ce Tasche ao hs coeagues :om he
CSNS'
l
have oscove:eo he :s hao:oc ow
ee:gy cosmc :ays LLCRs} o gaacc o:g,
2

eabg :esea:che:s o sa: ookg o he:
chemca comoso, ux, ao eecs o
he se:sea: meoum
To o a sou:ce o LLCRs, Tasche ao hs eam
eeoeo o buo a heo:eca mooe o wha LLCR
c:eaeo `:ay emssos he e:sea: meoum
wouo ook ke , ao coma:e wh he oaa gah
e:eo by `''Newo sce s auch l999 They
hus oeeo a sou:ce o LLCRs he vcy o he
/:ches cuse: o youg sa:s, abou l00 gh yea:s
:om he cee: o he 'ky Way The a:ces he:e
a:e accee:aeo he bow shock c:eaeo by he
cuse:s ow moo, hus gee:ag a cha:ace:s
c `:ay emsso by ::aoag he ambe gas
couo, whch we we:e abe o oey usg ou:
mooe, says Tasche The oscove:y o hese LLCRs
s a:cua:y mo:a sce :oves ha a:ces
ca be cha:geo wh kec ee:gy o oy by
sue:ovae exosos bu aso by he sme
moveme o sa:s
New obse:vaos a :aoo ao :a:eo wave
eghs couo eabe us o suoy hs coossa ux o
LLCRs ao s hyscochemca eecs o he oese
gas he e:sea: meoum, says Tasche
Ths shouo :ove e:esg gh o hese LLCRs
ossbe uece o sa: o:mao
0l Ce:e oe sec:ome:e ucea:e e oe sec:ome:e oe masse
CNRS / Uve:se a:sSuo}
02 \ Tasche e a, Nohe:ma `:ays :om owee:gy cosmc :ays
/cao o he o^ ke\ e emsso :om he /:ches cuse:
:ego, A&A, 20l2 ô /88
New Cosmic Rays Identified
/s:oomy
TeeTh Fossils Key To DieTary evoluTion BY fuI lee luk
wEating habits say a lot about people.
they can even reveal biological and social
traits of our extinct ancestors, as
geochemists from the lgl
1
and biologists
from the amIs
2
lab have shown.
3
By
studying teeth fossils from south africas
cradle of humankind site, the team has
reconstructed the diets of hominins,
unlocking details on the early humans.
Vincent Balter of the lgl likens
teeth to trees that produce rings as
they grow, telling a persons history.
using an innovative laser ablation
technique exposing growth prisms on
dental enamel, the team traced the
lifelong habitat and dietary changes of
individuals. remarkably, the technique
also keeps the teeth relatively intact: the
tiny holes made by the beams are
invisible to the eye.
three hominin genera were
examined: Australopithecus africanus
(2 to 3 million years old), Paranthropus
robustus (1.2 to 2.5 million years old), and
early Homo (Homo sapiens precursor
dating back 2.3 to 2.4 million years ago).
using strontium isotope analysis, the
team tracked a specimens habitat by
matching levels of water and plant
strontium absorbed in enamel, to those
found in surrounding bedrock. the
scientists deduced that the hominins
shared the same home range area, close
to the caves where their bones were
excavated. to detect their dietary
content, the team measured the
enamels barium and strontium
concentrations, known to decrease as a
mammal goes up the food chain and
starts eating meat.
so what did our forbears chew on?
Australopithecus had the most varied
diet, scrounging anything from animal
remains to plant matter. the later two
groups derived from this common
csnsm, orsay.
Vincent Tatischeff
> vincent.tatischeff@csnsm.in2p3.fr
q the region of the
arches cluster seen
in X-rays (contours)
and in the near
infrared (background
image) was
identifed as a source
of low-energy
cosmic rays.
Orsay
Lyon

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BY eddy delcher
E
lectronic tongues are devices capable of recognizing
dissolved substances. Tey have many applications,
from assessing foods freshness to detecting harmful
substances in wastewaters. Te receptors of conventional elec-
tronic tongues consist of complex molecules known to bind with
particular chemical compounds. Te large number of complex
molecules required to create an array of receptors usually makes
developing electronic tongues time-consuming and arduous.
A team of researchers bridging several laboratories
1
has
managed to speed up the process by using lactose and sulfated
lactosetwo small and easily accessible moleculesas building
blocks to design receptors.
2
Taking inspi-
ration from the heparan sulfates ability
to bind with proteins, the team mixed
negatively-charged sulfated lactose and
neutral lactose molecules to create drop-
lets of varying concentration ratios, each
displaying diferent binding properties.
Te droplets were then deposited on a
gold-layered optical prism, where they
formed an array of receptors. Bindings
between receptors and chemical com-
pounds were measured via Surface
Plasmon Resonance imaging (SPRi), an
optical detection technique never used
before in this feld. Each time a compound
binds with a receptor, electron oscillations
(plasmons) change. Tis in turn alters the
way light is refected on the prisms surface,
each alteration being measured optically.
Using this real-time monitoring
technique, a 3D landscape can be drawn
for each analyte. In other words, our
system allows us to see tastes, explains
Yanxia Hou-Broutin, from the SPrAM
laboratory,
1
who has been leading the
project for the past four years. Unlike
previous systems, our method allows all
receptors to be linked, she adds. Tis
enables us to identify defective receptors
and eliminate any abnormal signal. It can
be compared to our brains ability to re-
construct an image from a screen, even
when defective pixels are present.
Te new tongues are also cheaper to
develop, and can be re-used and/or kept
for months. We are now exploring the
analysis of complex mixtures such as
beer, wine, and milk. While still under
development, our system can already
diferentiate between the three, and de-
termine whether a milk sample is spoiled
just by looking at its 3D landscape,
concludes the researcher.
0l Labo:ao:e S:ucu:es e :o:ees oa:checu:es
moecua:es CNRS / CL/ / Uve:se }oseh
ou:e: C:eobe}, su oe chme moecua:e e
oes mae:aux oO:say CNRS / Uve:se a:sSuo},
su oe booge s:ucu:ae CNRS / CL/ /
Uve:se }osehou:e: C:eobe}
02 /axa ou e a, Couous evouo :oes o:
eec:oc oguebaseo aayss, Angewandte
Chemie, 20l2 DO l0l002/ae20l203ô
Chems:y Resea:che:s have oevseo a ew mehoo o: oesgg
mo:e :eabe eec:oc ogues ha ca eve vsuaze ases
Electronic Tongues
ha Ca See Tase
sPram, grenoble.
Yanxia Hou-Broutin
> yanxia.hou-broutin@cea.fr
TeeTh Fossils Key To DieTary evoluTion BY fuI lee luk
ancestor diverged in diet: plants
only for Paranthropus, as confrmed by
their facial and dental anatomy, while
Homo were carnivorous, hunting with
stone tools. as Balter explains, the lack
of competition for food allowed the two
groups to cohabit for almost a million
years. the team suggests that meat
consumption led to Homos increased
brain size and ultimate survival.
01. laboratoire de gologie de lyon (cnrs / ens lyon /
universit lyon-1).
02. anthropologie molculaire et imagerie de synthse
(cnrs / universit toulouse-III / universit de
strasbourg).
03. V. Balter et al., evidence for dietary change but not
landscape use in south african early hominins,
Nature, 2012. 489: 558-60.
lgl, lyon.
Vincent Balter
> vincent.balter@ens-lyon.fr
q first superior
right molar
of an early
Homo (left), third
superior right
molar of a
Paranthropus
robustus (middle),
and frst inferior
right molar
of an early
Homo (right).
Grenoble
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HEpArAN suLFATEs.
Polysaccharides
with varying
binding properties.
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q a novel electronic
tongue can translate
tastes into specifc
landscapes with the
help of surface
plasmon resonance
imaging (sPri).
Live from the Labs
l2 w
BY fuI lee luk
r
eproducing muscle movements
is a challenging issue for scien-
tists, with major applications at
stake. For the frst time, chemists from
the ICS
1
have synthesized an assembly
of nano-machines capable of muscle
fiber-like motion,
2
a breakthrough
validated experimentally by physicists
from the MSC.
3

Living organisms consist of molecu-
lar machines where groups of molecules like proteins control
key biological tasks including muscle contraction. It is the joint
action of these tiny molecules that extends their scope. Tis is
the case of protein nano-machines in muscle tissue: individual
myosin proteins can only move a few nanometers along actin
flaments, but grouped by the thousands in a sarcomere (the
basic muscle unit), their concerted movement can cover one
micrometer, allowing muscle contraction on a normal scale.
Inspired by nature, chemists have artifcially synthesized nano-
machines since the 1960s, but have never been able to coordinate
sets of nano-machines in time and space.
Te puzzle has now been solved. Te
ICSs biomimetic feat began with a 13-
step synthesis to produce a target nano-
machine: a basic molecule coded to
contract and expand, explains team
leader Nicolas Giuseppone. Te next ob-
jective was to create a big enough as-
sembly to trace movement. About 3000
molecules were joined together to form
polymers (compounds made up of
repeated units) linked by supramolecular
bonds, strong but dynamic. Tis techni-
cal trick allows better incorporation of
the machines within the long and
complex polymer chains. Simultaneous
response from the nano-machines was
triggered by changing the pH of the envi-
ronment, causing the entire chain to
contract or extend. While each nano-
machine can only move one nanometer
or so, the movement of the whole chain is
amplifed by 10,000, covering about 10
micrometers. Tis echoes the model of
the myosin/actin-driven sarcomere in
muscle fber. Te fnding was verifed by
measurements taken via light and neu-
tron scattering experiments run by Eric
Buhlers team at the MSC.
This polymer chain breakthrough
represents an important frst step towards
a range of long-term applications. Tese
Naoechoogy / aomache cuse: :ooucg coo:oaeo co:aco
ao exeso movemes b:gs us cose: o mmckg huma musce
CNRS Team
Flexes Muscles
q contraction (left) and extension (right) of a telescopic
polymer chain (center) made up of thousands of nano-
machines.
BY eddy delcher
wA team of European astronomers
has just detected a planet wh a mass
sma: o ha o La:h, o:bg /ha
Ceau: B
l
No oy s /ha Ceau: Bbhe
b oesgag he :s ae ouo
o:bhe ghes ae ouo o oae
a:ouo a Suke sa:, s aso he
coses o ou: Soa: Sysem /ha
Ceau: B s ^3 gh yea:s away, a
:eavey sho: osace cosoe:g
ha ou: gaaxy s:eches ove: some
l00,000 gh yea:s
/e he ew ae o:bs oo cose o
s a:e sa: o: wae:, :ese, o be
cuo, ao he:eo:e ooes o cuay as
a La:h we, a ae sma: o
La:h sze ao mass, ao o:bg a
sa:s hababe zoe s a mo:a
oscove:y oeheess, as 80 o gh
aes a:e a: o muaea:y sys
ems So he:e s a gooo :obaby we
w o La:h w caooaes ha
a:ea, exas :aos Bouchy :om he
/,
2
who a:caeo he suoy
The eam ouo /ha Ceau: Bb by
oeecg y chages s a:e sa:s
:aoa veocy, causeo by he o:bg
aes g:avaoa u These chag
es, o ess ha 2km/h, we:e ckeo u
usg he /RS
3
s:ume o he 3o
mee: eescoe a he LSOs La Sa
Obse:vao:y Che Whe /RS oe:s
he hghes accu:acy avaabe o: :aoa
veocy measu:emes, ooes have s
maos We ca oy obse:ve ve:y
b:gh sa:s such as /ha Ceau:, ao
s ack he :ecso :ecu:eo o o
La:h ws, exas Bouchy The a::va
o he hgh:ecso sec:og:ahs
LSRLSSO
^
ao SRou
ae 20lo,
shouo make ossbe o oscove: La:h
ws wh he ex l0 yea:s
Exoplanet Closest to Earth
/s:oomy
Strasbourg
Paris
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l3 Live from the Labs w
Paris
Ics, strasbourg.
Nicolas Giuseppone
> giuseppone@unistra.fr
include medical devices such as artifcial
muscles, but also information storage and
processing tools in molecule-based com-
puters. Tey also cover microrobots and
new substances with novel properties,
such as sponge-like materials that can
contract, adds Giuseppone. Te teams
next objective is to bundle several fbers
together to further amplify their move-
ment and integrate other movements
such as rotations.
0l su Cha:es Sao:o CNRS / Uve:se oe
S:asbou:g}
02 C Du e a, 'usceke Su:amoecua: oyme:s
eg:aeo 'oo :om Thousaos o 'oecua:
'aches, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 20l2 ool0l002/
ae20l208^9
03 'ae:e e sysemes comexes CNRS / Uve:se
a:s\}
q this study made
the cover page of
Angewandte Chemie
International
edition.
BY clmentIne wallace
wCNrs researchers have identifed
cells involved in scarring ha may ay
a sgca :oe b:oss, a ahoog
ca heag :ocess whch ca be eha
whe aecs e:a o:gas
l
Whe a o:ga s [u:eo, he heag
:ocess voves seve:a aco:s /mog
hese, coage:ooucg myob:o
bass make u he sca:, whch s usuay
emaeo oce he ssue :egee:aes
/e ce:a ch:oc oseases, he
sca::g :ocess e:sss, eaog o b:o
ss, wh coage:ooucg myob:o
bass accumuag o he o o m
a:g o:ga uco
The o:g ao :eguao o myo
b:obass a:e s ucea: We kew ha
a :asmemb:ae :oe caeo
/D/'l2whch s ex:esseo hysoog
cay ou:g emb:yogeesss oe
ove:ex:esseo ahooges wh a
b:oc comoe, such as musce ao
ve: osease o: sce:ooe:ma oweve:
he :oe o /D/'l2
-
ces was o kow,
exas Luce eouo,
2
:ca ves
gao: o he suoy
To o ou mo:e abou he: uco,
he eam oeveoeo :asgec mce ha
:oouceo a uo:esce :oe whe
/D/'l2 was ex:esseo Uo [u:y
he musce ao he sk, he :esea:che:s
obse:veo ha ex:esso o /D/'l2
When Scarring Cells Overdo It
was :aoy ouceo a subse o e:
vascua: ces, abe :asey These
ces aso ex:esseo hgh eves o :o
ammao:y cyokes ao g:owh
aco:s
By abeg /D/'l2
-
ces geecay,
he scess :ackeo he ces as hey
moveo ao mueo ove: he e:e
:ocess o ssue :ea: The ces sec
cay gave :se o coageove::ooucg
myob:obass ou:g he sca::g
:ocess u:he:mo:e, secc ema
o o /D/'l2
-
ces was suce o
oec:ease coage accumuao
acue [u:y, he oeveome o
/D/'l2
-
ces s oy :ase Bu
ce:a ch:oc b:oc oseases, hey a:e
gee:aeo couousy, whch mgh
ay a :oe excess coage oeoso,
says eouo, who hoes hs mgh he
oesg ove he:aeuc a:oaches o
b:oss
0l S Duau:oy e a, Leage :acg ao geec
abao o /D/'l2
-
e:vascua: ces oey a
ma[o: sou:ce o :ob:oc ces ou:g acue ssue
[u:y, Nature Medicine, 20l2 oo l0l038/m28^8
02 Ue oe oeveoeme oes ssus ymhooes
CNRS / su aseu:}
Boogy
Institut Pasteur, Paris.
Lucie peduto
> lucie.peduto@pasteur.fr
q scarring tissue of
skeletal muscle after
an injury. the
adam12+ cells (green
with blue nucleus)
produce excess
collagen (red).
0l ` Dumuscue e a, / La:h mass ae o:bg
/ha Ceau: B, Nature, 20l2 ^9l 20ll
02 su oas:ohyscue oe a:s CNRS / U'C}
03 gh /ccu:acy Raoa veocy aea:y Sea:ch
0^ Lchee Sec:og:ah o: Rocky Lxoae ao
Sabe Sec:oscoc Obse:vaos
0 Sec:ome:e :a:ouge ou: e Caaoa:ace
awa Teescoe SRou/CT}
IaP, Paris.
Franois Bouchy
> bouchy@iap.fr
q european
astronomers have
discovered a planet
with roughly the
mass of the earth,
orbiting a star in the
alpha centauri
systemthe closest
to ours (artist's
rendition).
alphacentauri a
alphacentauri B
sun

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Live from the Labs
l^ w
BY clmentIne wallace
u
sing the human immunodefciency virus (HIV) to cure
cancer patients would provide a sense of victory over
one of humanitys greatest villains. And this is exactly
what a team of CNRS researchers have in mind. HIV is
capable of producing a number of molecules that dont
exist naturally, much like a mutant factory, explains team
leader Matteo Negroni, from the IBMC.
1
So we tried to use
this to our advantage.
Te IBMC team knew that researchers had long been trying
to develop a more potent version of a human enzyme called
deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), key to the efectiveness of antican-
cer drugs once they enter the organism. If dCK can be improved
to better phosphorylate anti-cancer drugs, their efectiveness
could be enhanced, he explains.
In their experiments,
2
the researchers inserted a copy of the
dCK gene into the HIV genome, and let it replicate in a culture
of human cells. Te team then collected the produced mutants,
and tested them along with anticancer drugs in a culture of
human tumor cells. By doing so, they eventually identifed a
variant capable of boosting the efciency of anti-cancer drugs
60-fold, as compared to the wild-type dCK.
The second study concerns an
alternative anti-cancer treatment for
cells resistant to conventional chemo-
therapy. Te LIM kinase (LIMK) enzyme,
which is overexpressed in cancer cells,
had already been identified as a
potential new therapeutic target. LIMK
plays a central role in regulating the
dynamics of the cytoskeleton microtu-
bules and actin flaments and the cells
overall motility. However, very few
selective LIMK inhibitors have been
explored to date.
Now, a collaboration of researchers
from France, Australia, and the UK say
they have discovered the long-sought
agent.
3
Tey used an automated high-
throughput screening tool to analyze
more than 30,000 molecules, selecting
those capable of acting on microtubules,
a phenomenon that can be visualized by
using specifc markers.
Going a step further, they investi-
gated whether their selection contained
an agent capable of specifically
inhibiting LIMK. With the help of luck,
it did, as principal investigator
Laurence Lafanechre
4
puts it. Te team
called this agent Pyr-1. In vitro analysis
then revealed that Pyr-1 was toxic to
several cancerous epithelial cell lines,
including ones that are resistant to
current therapies.
By blocking LIMK, Pyr-1 targets an
enzyme involved in several physiological
pathways: it blocks cell multiplication
and motility. Pyr-1 is not only a new anti-
tumor agent, its also potentially anti-
metastatic, says Lafanechre, outlining
that 90% of cancer deaths are generally
caused by metastases.
0l su oe booge moecua:e e ceua:e CNRS}
Team /:checu:e e :eacve oe /RN}
02 Rossoo e a, Re:ovouo \o:ve
Lvouo o Ceua: Cees ao m:oveme
o /cace: D:ug /cvao, PLoS Genetics,
20l2 8 el00290^
03 R :uoe e a, ha:macoogca hbo o L'
ase sabzes mc:oubues ao hbs
eoasc g:owh, Cancer Res., 20l2 2 ^^2939
0^ su /be: Boo CNRS / se:m / Uve:se
}oseh ou:e:} Team 3 oa:y, Deveome ao
Cace:}
Boogy Two :eceyubsheo :esus, oe exog he \ mache:y, he
ohe: vovg a ew cyoskeeo hbo:, couo eao o bee: cace: :eames
ghg Cace:
on All Fronts
01 the gemcitabine
drug kills cancer cells
more effciently in
the presence of the
mutant dck (red)
as compared to
wt dck (blue) or
no dck at all (green).
Grenoble
Strasbourg

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10 m
Dynamic
microtubules
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02
l Live from the Labs w
IBmc, strasbourg.
Matteo Negroni
> m.negroni@ibmc-cnrs.unistra.fr
Institut albert Bonniot, grenoble.
Laurence Lafanechre
> laurence.lafanechere@ujf-grenoble.fr
BY Brett kraaBel
wHow long does it take your brain to recognize
a face? Not long. /e o: comue:s, hs s a ex
:emey chaegg ask Now, :esea:che: 'aue
Bbes
l
ao hs coeagues a CNRS, Thaes, ao he
Uve:sy o Camb:oge have mmckeo au:e by
buog eec:oc comoes caeo mem:so:s
ha a:e s:eo by he b:as comuaoa
c:cu:y
2

ou: b:a, eu:os ac as comug us,
each o whch s coeceo o a housao ohe:
eu:os by syases Bu syases aso se:ve as
memo:y, whch co:ass sa:ky wh he oesg o
comue:s, whe:e memo:y s a sea:ae ey :om
he comug u / much mo:e ga:g oe:ece
s ha eu:os commucae h:ough voage uses
:ahe: ha o:ec cu::e DC} voages The :esu s
ha he b:a s a: mo:e owe:u ao ee:gye
ce ha ay mamaoe comue:
'em:so:s mmc syases ha hey ac as
w:es whose eec:ca :essace oeeos o he
:evous voage uses se h:ough hem, gvg
hem memo:y The :s mem:so:, :oouceo
2008, was baseo o he ouso o os h:ough a
h m, a heomeo oo:y uoe:sooo ao o
cu o co:o To ove:come hs ocuy, Bbes
ao hs coabo:ao:s have bu mem:so:s baseo
o u:ah e::oeec:c ms saowcheo bewee
mea eec:ooes
e::oeec:c ms :ovoe a aswe: because
hey :ea a eec:c oa:zao ae: beg ex
oseo o a eec:c eo e, a voage} Ths es
hem so:e o:mao, much ke e::omages
magec ha:o osks, exas Bbes Whe aceo
bewee mea eec:ooes, he oa:zao o he
e::oeec:c m oee:mes he eec:ca :ess
ace o he mem:so: hs way, he :essace o
he oevce oeeos o s voage hso:y, e:mg
memo:y so:age
co:as o coveoa memo:y c:cus,
whch so:e oy wo bs, he :essace o e::oeec
:c mem:so:s ca be ey ueo, aowg hem
o coa much mo:e o:mao Ths s ossbe
because he m becomes oa:zeo mszeo
chuks, caeo oomas By va:yg he voage a
eo ac:oss he m, he oesy o oa:zeo oo
mas ca be :ecsey co:oeo, aowg he :ess
ace o be ueo bewee a mmum vaue ao a
maxmum vaue 300 mes g:eae:
/ohe: aovaage o e::oeec:cs
s ha hey have bee suoeo o: oecaoes, so he
mechasms o ooma o:mao ao e:aco
a:e we uoe:sooo The eam ow as o use hs
koweoge o buo a eu:a ewo:k wh l0 eec
:oc eu:os ao l00 mem:so: syases
0l Ue mxe oe hyscue CNRS / Thaes
02 / Chahbouaa e a, / e::oeec:c mem:so:, Nature Materials,
20l2 ll 8o0^
Bio-inspired Computing Memory
hyscs
cnrs / thales, Palaiseau.
Manuel Bibes
> manuel.bibes@thalesgroup.com
and more news...
Islamic Art
staying Alert
wusing a non-invasive and mobile raman spectroscopy technique on
four ancient lamps, researchers
1
have revealed the secrets of Mamluk
sultanate enamellers (Egypt and syria: 1250-1517).
2
Lapis lazuli or
cobalt were used for blue, and mixed with Naples yellow to produce
green, while tin oxide precipitates or calcium phosphate were used
for white. Comparison with replicas by 19th century master
glassmakers unambiguously shows that very different pigments
were used in that later period. This study therefore provides
tools to identify recently-restored sections or copies
from originals.
0l Labo:ao:e oe oyamcue, e:acos e :eacve CNRS / U'C}
02 Coomba e a, J. Raman Spectrosc, 20l2 ^3l98^
wBlue light proved as effective as
coffee to keep drivers alert during long
journeys at night.
1
/hough he osve
eec o bue gh o ghme ae:ess
was kow sce 200 o: sme asks, hao
eve: bee eseo o hghycomex asks
ke o:vg The suoy, coouceo by eams
:om :ace
2
ao Sweoe, couo eao o he
oeveome o eec:oc asee
sysems bu o vehces
0l } Taa:o e a, PLoS ONE, 20l2 l0} eô0
02 Somme, aeo e eu:osycha:e CNRS}
02 treatment of a model
cancer cell line (hela)
with lImk inhibitor
Pyr-1 increases stable
microtubules content
(green) without
affecting dynamic
microtubules (red).
Palaiseau
Stable
microtubules

L

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q the tuquztimur
lamp, one of the
mamluk objects
analyzed by raman
spectroscopy.
16 On Location | Live from the Labs
BY KatIa YezlI
C
reated in 1927, the Tsingy de
Namoroka, a 223-km
2
national
park in northwest Madagascar,
is one of the worlds earliest nature
reserves. With its striking karst land-
scapes, the area is an exceptional hotspot
of biodiversity harboring a multitude of
species, some still unknown.
Tat is until a few months ago, when
an international team of scientists, led by
botanist Thomas Haevermans of the
OSEB laboratory,
1
headed to the island
with an ambitious objective: to undertake
the frst complete inventory of plants and
wildlife in Tsingy.
Because the areas dirt and bumpy
roads make the reserve difcult to access
during the rainy season, the region has
hardly been explored and is therefore
very well preserved. Te latest scientifc
expedition dates back to the early 20th
century.
In August last year, taking advantage
of the dry season, a convoy of seven four-
wheel drive vehicles and one truck set of
from Mahajanga. Aboard, more than 20
scientists, specialists in plant biology,
entomology, paleoentomology, and her-
petology brought research equipment,
but also food and water rations for a
3-week expedition.
Afer crossing two bays and continu-
ing on dirt roads for two days
sometimes not exceeding 5 km/hthe
researchers fnally reached Namoroka
and its spectacular limestone formations.
A camp was set up in an open-roof cave,
with electricity generators, computers,
and a temporary lab.
Te hunt for new species started each
day before sunrise, with the help of expe-
rienced local guides. Plants and animals,
including reptiles and insects found in
the field, were systematically geo-
localized with GPS technology to pre-
cisely map their distribution across the
area, before being collected, photo-
graphed, and preserved. Once collected,
plants were dried overnight, then tightly
pressed together in bundles, and fnally
kept in plastic bags, explains botanist
Lucile Allorge. Various plant species,
such as ferns, euphorbs, and orchids were
sampled over more than 400 harvests.
Entomologists not only worked in the
daytime but also at night, setting up traps
around the camp to lure insects. Tey
managed to gather around 4100 speci-
mens of Hemipterans, hundreds of
diferent types of moth and beetle species,
and a host of eco-ethological data like
insect host-plants, biotope descriptions,
and insect sound recordings. For the
first time, we were able to record the
planthopper Typhlobrixia namorokensis,
a cave-adapted insect never collected
since its discovery in 1952, explains
OSEB entomologist Tierry Bourgoin.
Several new genera and species have al-
ready been identifed and analyses are
still underway, but one expedition is not
enough. An exhaustive inventory would
require an entire year on site, explains
Haevermans. We now have a better idea
of the kind of specimens we can fnd in
this highly endemic area. Te results
of the mission will also help the govern-
ment of Madagascar establish future
conservation strategies.
01. Laboratoire Origine, structure et volution de la
biodiversit (CNRS /MNHN).
Biodiversity In August 2012, a pluridisciplinary research team initiated an exhaustive
inventory of the species inhabiting Madagascars Namoroka National Park.
Treasure Trove
in Madagascar
oseB, Paris.
Thomas Haevermans
> haever@mnhn.fr
01
03 02

T
.
H
A
e
v
e
R
M
A
N
S

F
.
R
A
k
O
T
O
N
d
R
A
I
N
I
B
e

T
.
B
O
u
R
g
O
I
N
01 the spectacular
karst landscape of
the tsingy de
namoroka park.
02 Strophanthus
boivinii, also known
as corkscrew fower,
originates from
madagascar.
03 the planthopper
Typhlobrixia
namorokensis,
recorded for the frst
time during the
expedition.
A photo gallery is
available on the online
> www.cnrs.fr/
cnrsmagazine
n28 I quarterlY I JanuarY 2013
17 Innovation |
forCe
magnet
magnetIc
Bead
SequeNCe of
INTereST
STruCTured
aS a dNa
HaIrpIN
glass
Plate
opeNINg of THe
dNa MoLeCuLe

C
N
R
S
BY grgorY flchet
wresearchers have designed a new
dNa sequencing method that could be
both cheaper and more precise than
those in use. It is being developed com-
mercially by the start-up PicoSeq,
launched in June 2012. The technology
overcomes some of the main drawbacks
linked with existing techniques. Current
methods involve multiplying in large
numbers the dNA sequence to be ana-
lyzed. Yet this procedure often induces
New Sequencing Method Pinned Down
bias, explains vincent Croquette, bio-
physicist at the LPS.
1
The strategy devel-
oped by the scientist and his team in-
volves carrying out sequencing from
single dNA molecules. This recently pub-
lished innovative approach
2
is based on
the mechanical opening of the double
strand of dNA to be decoded. To do this, it
is necessary to give the dNA a hairpin
structure, using a complementary dNA
fragment and a ligase enzyme. Placed in
solution, this dNA hairpin is then at-
tached to a magnetic bead by one of the
two branches of the hairpin, while the
other is securely fastened to a glass plate.
using magnets to pull on the beads, the
double-stranded molecule can then be
opened up like a zip. Small fragments of
synthetic nucleic acidsoligonucle-
otides of random sequence such as CTg,
Agg, gAgare added to the solution and
thus hybridize through complementarity
with the single-stranded dNA: a CTg se-
quence always pairs with gAC, Agg with
TCC, and so on. When the force exerted
on the dNA hairpin is released, the mole-
cule closes, but pauses each time it en-
counters one of these small fragments,
explains the researcher. The analysis of
the temporary blockages generated by
each of these oligonucleotide fragments
provides a faithful imprint of the
sequence of the initial dNA molecule,
based on the laws of dNA complementar-
ity. This method also has a key advantage
over available sequencing techniques:
unlike these, it enables scientists to map
certain types of repeated sequences in-
volved in serious genetic pathologies
such as Huntingtons disease. This advan-
tage could allow PicoSeq to fnd a niche in
the highly competitive market of genetic
sequencing.
01. Laboratoire de physique statistique de leNS (eNS /
CNRS / universit Pierre et Marie Curie / universit
Paris diderot).
02. v. Croquette et al., Single-molecule mechanical
identifcation and sequencing, Nature Methods,
2012. 9: 367-72.
PicoSeq
lPs, Paris.
Vincent Croquette
> vincent.croquette@lps.ens.fr
Paris
diabetes
q Principle of the
novel Picoseq
technology, based on
unzipping dna
strands for decoding.
BY Jean-PhIlIPPe BralY
wevery day, and several times a day, millions of
people have to prick their fngers to check their
blood glucose level, and self-inject a dose of insulin
because they suffer from type 1 diabetes. This illness
is caused by the destruction of pancreatic cells
which normally secrete insulin and control blood
glucose levels.
Implantable glucose sensors connected to insu-
lin pumps have been on the market for several years,
but they have limitations, particularly in terms of
sensitivity and reaction times. Therefore, research-
ers from the Bordeaux-based laboratories CBMN
1
and IMS
2
are working on a new bioelectronic sensor
that could overcome these drawbacks by fixing
cells onto an electronic chip. Fashioned by evolu-
tion, these cells constitute the most sophisticated
tool for determining insulin requirements, explain
CBMN researchers Jochen Lang and Bogdan Catargi.

Y
.
B
O
R
N
A
T
/
M
C
u
cBmn, Pessac.
Jochen Lang
> j.lang@iecb.u-bordeaux.fr
Ims, talence.
Sylvie renaud
> sylvie.renaud@ims-bordeaux.fr
They actually adjust their electrical activity accord-
ing not only to the level of glucose, but also of various
nutrients and hormones. This electrical activity,
which is directly correlated with the insulin needs of
the body, is measured using microelectrodes on the
chip. The bioelectric sensor is able to calculate in real
time the quantity of insulin required and when it
should be delivered.
The researchers have recently succeeded in cul-
turing cells on an electronic chip capable of mea-
suring these electrical variations in real time over
several weeks, something that had never been done
before. The team has fled an international patent to
protect its invention. First of all, we hope to be able
to use this technology to test the effect of candidate
drugs on cells, explains Sylvie Renaud, of IMS.
A frst prototype is scheduled for 2014.
01. Chimie et biologie des membranes et nano-objets (CNRS / IPB /
universit Bordeaux-I).
02. Laboratoire Intgration du matriau au systme (CNRS / universit
Bordeaux-I / Institut Polytechnique de Bordeaux).
Novel Bioelectronic Sensor
Pessac
Talence
q the array of 60
microelectrodes on
which the islets of
langerhans (dark
spots) are cultured
for weeks.
| Profle
18 w
Portrait TheanthropologistPhilippeDescolawasawardedthe2012CNRSGold
Medal,Francesmostprestigiousscientificdistinction.
PhilippeDescola
Human Natures
AN iNNovAtive visioN
I knew at a rather young age that I
wanted to become an anthropologist,
but I didnt really know how to make it
happen, Descola recalls. While studying
philosophy at the cole Normale
Suprieure of Fontenay-Saint-Cloud in
the late 1960s, Descola developed a keen
interest in Rousseau, and in Maurice
Godeliers classes on economic anthro-
pology. A brilliant student, he decided
to pursue a double major, earning a
degree in ethnology (1972) as well as a
teaching certifcate in philosophy (1974).
He then submitted a thesis project
on the Amazon region to... Claude
Lvi-Strauss.
Unlike the African societies, which
were already well understood, the
Amazon Basin populations attracted me
for their mystery, Descola explains. It
was impossible to comprehend what
constituted society for these Amerindians,
living in small scattered groups, with
no leader, no apparent history, and
always at war.
With funding from CNRS, he and his
wife Anne-Christine Taylor,
3
herself an
anthropologist, went to do fieldwork
among the Achuar people of Ecuador
between 1976 and 1978. Understanding
these peoples relationship with nature
was what mattered most to me, the
researcher adds.
AmoNg tHe AcHuAr
Descola undertook a systematic study of
the techniques and representations
through which the Achuar made them-
selves part of their environment. His
conclusions contradicted the prevailing
viewpoints of the time, especially in the
US, which held that these cultures were
solely determined by environmental fac-
tors, such as the quantity and distribution
of game animals.
Afer observing the Achuars hunt-
ing practices, I had to conclude the
opposite, he explains. Tey consider
animals to be non-blood relatives and,
conversely, see cultivated plants as blood
relatives to be pampered. Te Achuar
believe that plants and animals are im-
bued with a soul, and converse with them
in dreams or through incantations. Far
from the traditional Western standpoint
of seeing nature and culture as opposites,
the Achuar see them as a continuity.
Enriched by his travels and on-loca-
tion experience, the anthropologist re-
turned to France where he was hired as a
lecturer at the EHESS
4
in 1984. Working
in the field transforms you, he says.
Experiencing such diferent ways of liv-
ing and of perceiving the human condi-
tion gives you critical perspective. Its like
being suspended between two worlds.
BY stPHanIe arc
P
hilippe Descola, 2012 cNrs gold medal recipient
and director of the LAs,
1
had braced himself for the
whirlwind of media attention that inevitably accompa-
nies any distinction of this caliber. As he welcomes us
into his ofce, his calm and professional demeanor is unshaken.
Now in his sixties, with a trim white beard and sparkling
blue eyes, this specialist in the native tribes of the Amazon
surveys a collection of photographs retracing his career: In this
one, taken at the Collge de France, you can see Claude Lvi-
Strauss, in my opinion the preeminent thinker in the social
sciences of the 20th century. Heres another one with Maurice
Godelier, the man who made me realize that I could make
anthropology my profession.
Seventeen years afer winning the CNRS Silver Medal,
Descola is surprised to have joined his two illustrious mentors,
who were awarded the CNRS Gold Medal in 1967 and 2001
respectively.
2
I didnt expect to see anthropology honored like
this yet again. On the other hand, its a discipline that studies
human beings from every anglecultural, moral, mental and
physicaland addresses our societys uncertainties about the
future of humanity.
C
o
l
l
G
e
D
e
F
R
a
N
C
e
q Philippe Descola (left) greets his mentor claude lvi-strauss. Between
them is Franoise Hritier, another eminent anthropologist at the
collge de France.
Five keY DAtes
1949 Born in Paris
1976 travels to the amazon
Basin to study the achuar
Jivaro people
1983 PhD in social anthropology
2001 named director of the las
(social anthropology
laboratory)
2012 awarded the cnrs gold
medal
19 Profle |
tHe FroNtiers oF mAN
His ethnographic work led him to adopt
a comparatist line of thinking. He began
to refect on the types of relationships that
populations cultivate with their environ-
ment, frst in the Amazon Basin and then
in societies everywhere.
Descola identifes four ontologies
animism, totemism, analogism, and
naturalism (see box)four ways of de-
tecting the limits between self and non-
self in human societies and discusses
the cosmologies that arise from them.
Today, the anthropologist continues his
research in parallel with his work at the
LAS. He is also hard at work on a new book
on images, which, even before verbaliza-
tion, evince the ways of conceiving the rela-
tions and contrasts between people and the
other components of their environment.
01.laboratoiredanthropologiesociale(CNRS/Collge
deFrance/eHeSS).
02. Theethnologistandprehistorianandr
leroy-GouranalsowontheGoldMedalin1973.
03.anne-ChristineTaylorisdirectorofeducationand
researchattheQuaiBranlymuseuminParis.
04.ecoledeshautestudesensciencessociales.
a video and photo gallery
can be viewed on the online
version of the magazine:
contact InFormatIon:
las, Paris.
Philippe Descola
> descola@ehess.fr
PhiliPPe Descola's
Four ontologies
InhisessayBeyond Nature and Culture,
1
PhilippeDescoladistinguishesfour
primarysystemsthroughwhichpeople
perceivetheirrelationshipstothe
environment(objects,plants,animals,
otherpeople)andmakedistinctions
betweenhumansandnon-humans.
w in animism, non-humanshave
thesameattributesofinteriority
(intentionality,subjectivity,refexivity,
affects)ashumans(moralcontinuity),but
differintheirphysicalandcorporeal
characteristics(physicaldiscontinuity).
Thissystemcanbefoundamongthe
IndiansofSouthamericaandthearctic
regionsofNorthamerica,aswellasthe
Pygmiesandcertainpopulationsof
Southeastasia.
w in totemism,inparticularamong
theaustralianaborigines,humansand
non-humansaregroupedtogetherin
asingletotemicclass:despitetheir
differenceinform,theyareconsideredto
possessidenticalmoralandphysical
qualities(moralandphysicalcontinuity)
derivedfromanancestralprototype.
w in analogist cultures, allbeingsare
seenassingular,dissociatedinevery
aspect(moralandphysicaldiscontinuity).
Thesearethemodelsoftheclassic
ChineseandIndiancultures,theandes,
muchofWestafrica,andeuropeuntilthe
Renaissance.
w in naturalism,bywhichourWestern
cultureisstructured,onlymanhasasoul,
anintentionality,andthecapacityto
expressit,eventhoughheshareshis
physicalcharacteristicswithnon-humans
(moraldiscontinuitybutphysical
continuity).
01. TheUniversityofChicagoPressbooks,
inpress,June2013.
cosmoLogY.
A representation
of the organization
of the world
characteristic of a
given culture and
based on a specifc
ontology (animism,
totemism,
analogism, or
naturalism).
C
.
a
N
a
Y
a
-
G
a
U
T
I
e
R
/
C
N
R
S
P
H
o
T
o
T
H
Q
U
e
From tHe AutHor:.
the ecology of others: anthropology
and the Question of nature
(Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press
2012).
spears of twilight: life and Death in
the amazon Jungle (New York: The
New Press, 1998).
nature and society: anthropological
Perspectives. Philippe Descola and
Gisli Palsson, editors. (New York:
Routledge 1996).
in the society of nature: a native
ecology in amazonia (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1994).
Focus
20 w
a new challenge 20 i
coping with a Data Deluge 24 i
Data storage: a teething Problem 26 i
:om he e:e o a:gescae
:esea:ch aces, he amou o
oga oaa gee:aeo ooay s
g:owg exoeay Daa
:oouce:s ao use:s ake eeo o
oevse bee: ways o coe wh hs
oeuge o o:mao ow ca
be casseo, so:eo, maoe :eeva?
CNRS International Magazine
exames he bs ao byes
ha a:e :eshag ou: wo:o
By FabrIce Demarthon, DenIs Delbecq anD grgory Flchet
Every two days, we

create as much infor-
mation as we did from
the dawn of civiliza-
tion up until 2003, said Google CEO
Eric Schmidt at a conference in the US in
2010. And this observation illustrates a
burning issue for scientists and econo-
mists worldwide: how to cope with such
unprecedented amounts of data? We are
faced with a real deluge of data, says
Christine Collet, head of the DB team at
the LIG
1
and full professor at the Grenoble
Institute of Technology. Numbers speak
for themselves. Every second, one hour of
video is uploaded to YouTube and more
than 1.5 million emails are sent across the
globe.
2
Scientists are no less productive. In
eight years (2000-2008), the Sloan Digital

D
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/
C
/
C
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R
S

,
/
\
/
N
/
O
T
O
L
/

,
C

N
/ New Challenge
searches
are launched
on Google
. billion
hours of video
are uploaded
On Youtube
,
users connect
to Facebook
million
new articles
are written
On Wikipedia
emails are exchanged

billion
tweets are sent
via Twitter
million
text messages are sent
million
megabytes of data
are collected
Very Large Telescope (VLT)
,
gigabytes of data
are produced at
the Large Hadron
Collider (LHC)
,
The BIG DATA
RL\OLUTON
2l Focus w
Sky Survey, a large astronomical observa-
tion program, recorded 140 terabytes
of images (see table of scales). But its
successor, the Large Synoptic Survey
Telescope (LSST)a project involving
teams from CNRSs IN2P3
3
will collect
that much information every fve days
once operational. Each year, the Large
Hadron Collider (LHC) gathers almost 15
petabytes of data, the equivalent of more
than three million DVDs. Today, man-
kind generates around one zettabyte of
data each yearnearly as many bytes as
there are stars in the universe.
4
An EConomIC PrIorITy
Te Big Data phenomenon, as it is dubbed
by specialists, continues to expand, driven
by the success of the digital economy, the
widespread adoption of mobile devices,
the boom of social networks, the opening
of several databases to consumers (Open
Data), and the development of large-
scale international scientifc programs.
We are witnessing a full-fedged democ-
ratization of data, adds Collet. Data is
everywhere and it is generated, sold, and
consumed like any other manufactured
good. Tese massive volumes of informa-
tion have taken on such economic, indus-
trial, and scientifc importance that gov-
ernments and businesses are making
massive investments in this field. In
March of last year, US President Barack
Obama announced a Big Data plan
BIG DATA.
The term commonly
used by specialists
to describe
large amounts of
digital data.
one day in the digital world
/ New Challenge
SOURCLS TL R/DC/T CROU, /OUTUBL, TWTTLR, TU, CLRN, LSO, WLD/, /CLBOO, COOCLL
searches
are launched
on Google
. billion
hours of video
are uploaded
On Youtube
,
users connect
to Facebook
million
new articles
are written
On Wikipedia
emails are exchanged

billion
tweets are sent
via Twitter
million
text messages are sent
million
megabytes of data
are collected
Very Large Telescope (VLT)
,
gigabytes of data
are produced at
the Large Hadron
Collider (LHC)
,
mAsToDons : Cnrs lEADs ThE wAy
mastodons is a challenging project initiated
by cnrss mission for Interdisciplinarity.
mastodons involves a large number
of cnrs institutes around a common
objective: to improve the management and
use of the huge amount of data available in
the databases of all scientific disciplines,
explains mokrane bouzeghoub, deputy
scientific director at cnrss Ins2I,
1
who
oversees the program. among the various
themes investigated are data storage
and security, data visualization, data
mining, or confidentiality.
launched in may 2012, mastodons is
already a success: 16 projects have been
selected among the 37 presented. they
have been allocated 700,000 in funding
for 2012. the main objective is to foster
the emergence of an interdisciplinary
scientific community around data science,
says bouzeghoub. each mastodons project
could last four or five years. the frst
mastodons workshop was held in Paris
on December 5, 2012, offering researchers
an opportunity to assess ongoing progress
in the field.
01. Institut des sciences informatiques et de leurs
interactions.
Focus
22 w
allocating $200 million to the countrys
Big Data Research and Development
Initiative. Te EU has made management
of digital content a priority for the end of
its 7th Framework Programme (FP7). In
France, a 25 million program is dedica-
ted to big data management technologies.
sCIEnTIFIC ChAllEnGEs AhEAD
Big Data is a considerable scientifc chal-
lenge that can only be met by a combina-
tion of basic science and engineering,
explains Mark Asch, scientifc ofcer for
Mathematics and High Performance
Computing at the French Ministry of
Higher Education and Research. This
prompted CNRS to launch the Mastodons
program last summer (see box p. 21). Te
idea is to support interdisciplinary proj-
ects that will identify the problems in-
volved in the management of very large
amounts of scientifc data. What is the
best way to store and preserve data? How
can it be processed, analyzed, viewed,
and interpreted? How should it be pro-
tected, in particular from abusive use,
and how can it be permanently deleted?
All issues that need to be addressed, and
for which we have few answers, says
Kilobyte
K
1 OOO ytes
Byte Megabyte
M
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Big Data has revolutionized
the work of specialists in the
humanities and social
sciences, indicates Bertrand
Jouve, mathematician and
deputy scientifc director at
the CNRSs Institute for
Humanities and social
Sciences (INSHS).
1
He sees Big
Data as a great opportunity
for his peers. Online
databases now provide a
single entry point for
accessing knowledge that
was previously scattered
across many locations, he
adds. Internet-based
surveys, for example, have
not only made the work of
sociologists easier, but also
given their research more
reach. Despite his
enthusiasm, Jouve is also
aware of the many diffculties
facing users today. The
problem is how to process
the raw data, he explains.
When the information is
not collected directly by the
researcher, it is diffcult to
know how the data was
processed before its inclusion
in the database. LIG
2

researcher Sihem Amer-Yahia
believes this to be Big Datas
Achilles heel. Raw data
processing is often a black
box, completely opaque
to the user, she explains,
yet it is a known fact that
common manipulations can
delete a large part of the
information.
The emergence of very large
data volumes and the
all-digital world raises other
issues, albeit less technical.
Big Data is inevitably a cause
for epistemological concern,
notes Sandra Laugier, deputy
scientifc director at INSHS.
What does it mean to have
access to more information
than a human mind can
fathom? How will such
uncontrollable
exhaustiveness impact our
relation to knowledge?
There are a number of other
concerns, such as data
ownership, usage rights, the
right to be forgotten, or
ethics. Researchers in the
humanities and social
sciences must address these
issues, in collaboration with
other disciplines, in order to
serve the public interest and
avoid the possible
stranglehold by private
interests.
0l su oes sceces humaes e
socaes
02 Labo:ao:e o:macue oe
C:eobe CNRS / Uve:se oe
C:eobe, , ao / su
oyechcue oe C:eobe}
Bertrand Jouve
> bertrand.jouve@cnrs-dir.fr
sandra laugier
> sandra.laugier@cnrs-dir.fr
BIG DATA In ThE humAnITIEs AnD soCIAl sCIEnCEs
ComPArATIvE sCAlE oF ByTEs
01 the digital era simplifes access to information
previously scattered across various libraries.
01

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23 Focus w
Mokrane Bouzeghoub, deputy scientifc
director of the INS2I,
5
which coordinates
Mastodons. At the heart of these issues
are algorithms, methodologies, but also
High Performance Computing (HPC)
infrastructures.
unAnswErED QuEsTIons
Farouk Toumani, LIMOS
6
researcher
and head of the Petasky project within
Mastodons, shares the same point of
view. A telescope like the LSST, which
should go live in 2020, will be able to save
a 3 billion-pixel image of the sky every 17
seconds, he explains. At the end of the
program, astronomers will have a
140-petabyte database containing hun-
dreds of characteristics for each object in
the sky. At present, even the most efcient
data mining algorithms would take doz-
ens of years to explore the database and
answer certain questions raised by re-
searchers. LSST program scientists al-
ready know that some of their more
complex interrogations will remain un-
answered. Nevertheless, such a database
is an ideal feld of application for further
fundamental research into Big Data,
which is exactly what researchers on the
Petasky project are involved in. In order
to overcome the obstacles inherent to the
handling of very large volumes of data,
we will certainly need to improve storage
and processing technologies, as well as
come up with new ways to process data,
notes Toumani. Sihem Amer-Yahia,
social network specialist at the LIG,
agrees. Te Big Data revolution, driven
by the explosion of social networks where
citizens themselves provide the content,
has overthrown the traditional data
storage and processing structure.
rADICAl uPhEAvAl
Everybody is concerned. From biologists
to astrophysicists, from Facebook to the
tax ofce: no one can escape the Big Data
phenomenon or the problems it spawns.
Tis is an urgent issue: the amount of
digital information generated worldwide
doubles every two years, and this pace is
accelerating. Data is at the heart of both
the digital economy and the information
society, concludes Collet. It represents a
basic ingredient with high-added value:
nothing will happen without it.
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Uve:se oe C:eobe, , ao / su
oyechcue oe C:eobe}
02 Sou:ces /ouTube, sag:am, The Raoca C:ou
03 su aoa oe hyscue ucea:e e oe
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e:acos
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oomsao oes sysemes CNRS / Uve:se oe
Ce:moe::ao ao / Lcoe oes 'es oe
SaLee / s :'eca /vacee Ce:mo
e::ao}
AlGorIThm.
A series of
operations and
instructions to
solve a problem.
02 the future lsst
telescope will be
installed in chile on
top of cerro Pachn
(artists rendition).
03 With 189 sensors,
it will record sky
images in unpre-
cedented detail.
Pictured here: the
simulation of a
photo taken by
a single sensor.
02
03

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sihem Amer-yahia
> sihem.amer-yahia@imag.fr
mokrane Bouzeghoub
> mokrane.bouzeghoub@cnrs-dir.fr
Christine Collet
> christine.collet@grenoble-inp.fr
Farouk Toumani
> farouk.toumani@isima.fr
mark Asch
> mark.asch@u-picardie.fr
Focus
2^ w
T
oday, the amount of information
exchanged over the Internet
represents five million times
that contained in all the books ever
written. How can this ever-expanding
mass of information be analyzed? Marie-
Christine Rousset, computer science
professor and LIG
1
member, is among
those in the scientific community at-
tempting to structure the continuous
fow of data across the Web. Te pages
we look at every day are part of the text-
based Web, which contains billions of
interconnected documents, she explains.
Tese pages cannot be used as a genuine
knowledge base since they were designed
to be read by humans, not machines. In
other words, when entering a query in a
search engine like Google, all it does is
provide a list of thousands of documents
likely to match it. It is then up to the user
to laboriously search for the most relevant
response. Given the dizzying rate at
which documents are published on the
Web, this type of search model may soon
prove inefcient to manage such large
amounts of data. Te alternative is to
upgrade the existing Web to a data Web:
Tis approach is based on adding meta-
data to the URL addresses that identify
Web pages. It aims to simplify the Web
by organizing its information, thus
granting end-users easier access to
knowledge, explains Rousset.
Tis development is already under-
way through W3C, the international
Coping with a Daa Deuge
The profusion of data now available to
researchers is not always an advantage: the
more information available, the harder it is to
interpret. At the Bordeaux Computer Science
Research Laboratory (LABRI),
1
David Auber and
his team are trying to make this deluge of
information more legible using analytical
visualization methods. Our approach is to apply
mathematical tools like algorithms to sift
through this raw data and extract the most
pertinent information, explains the researcher.
Using this method, stock prices, communications
systems, chemical processes in cell metabolism,
and geographical or social networks can be
translated into visual metaphors.
Such representations enable researchers to
analyze the structure of these masses of
information both quickly and effciently.
Although exponential growth in computing
power has generated a considerable quantity of
data over the past ten years, our brains ability to
process that information lags far behind. Our
short-term memory prevents us from analyzing
more than seven things at once, Auber stresses.
The principle of analytical visualizationvia
interfaces to help with data analysismay soon
become essential to bridge the gap.
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CNRS / Uve:se Bo:oeaux ao / Uve:se
Bo:oeauxSegae / B}
David Auber
> david.auber@labri.fr
vIsuAlIzATIon To ImProvE unDErsTAnDInG
08 a map of communications between
20,000 computers, developed at labrI.
url.
(Uniform Resource
Locator)
A string of
characters for
locating a Web page
or website.
06
04
07
08
05

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2 Focus w
The US is still the undisputed
leader with regard to High
Performance Computing
(HPC). In 2012, the country
boasted 252 of the worlds
500 most powerful super-
computers, about half of the
total computing power
available worldwide
estimated at 120 petafops
(PFlops).
1
With 22 of these
500 supercomputers
representing a total of 6.4
PFlops, France ranks 6th in
terms of computing power
dedicated to HPC.
At CNRS, the IN2P3
2
computing center plays
a key role in this feld by
developing computing grids
dedicated to the Large
Hadron Collider (LHC)
experiments and to
biomedical and industrial
applications. More than
2500 researchers and
academics are involved
in high performance
computing at CNRS,
making us one of the
largest multidisciplinary
communities in Europe,
points out Michel Dayd,
director of the CNRS HPC
Orientation Committee
(COCIN). But the number of
hours allocated either to
national centers or European
projects does not always
satisfy the communitys
growing HPC needs. In
order to meet the demand,
we must keep increasing
the overall capacity of
supercomputing power in
the country, and associate it
to a suitable organization
(urbanization) of computing
and data infrastructure
including HPC, computing
grids, cloud computing, and
large data centers, notes
Jean-Pierre Vilotte, scientifc
director at CNRSs INSU.
3
The
COCIN plans to implement
this strategy both at the
national and European level.
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bo oago oe:aos
e: secoo
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ucea:e e oe hyscue oes
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uve:s
michel Dayd
> michel.dayde@cnrs-dir.fr
Jean-Pierre vilotte
> vilotte@ipgp.fr
consortium founded in 1994 by Tim
Berners-Lee, principal inventor of the
World Wide Web. Some preliminary
versions already exist for this new
so-called semantic Web, which makes
information on the Internet intelligible to
machines. Making the semantic Web a
universal model is a daunting task, how-
ever. Its one thing to graf query algo-
rithms onto a centralized database,
adds the LIG scientist, but managing it
on the Interneta gigantic decentralized
entityis more than a question of tech-
nological improvement.
wEll-DIsTrIBuTED DATA
In recent years, new technologies drasti-
cally changed practice in one scientifc
designed to federate distributed data and
knowledge in biomedical imaging.
Te Credible project has an opposite
approach to that of ADNI. While ADNI
centralizes biomedical information be-
fore analyzing it, Credible federates the
data scattered across a number of French
hospitals. Sooner or later, the strategy
of centralizing huge amounts of
medical data will be limited by available
storage capacity, explains Montagnat.
Furthermore, the proliferation of data
acquisition devices in hospitals makes it
impossible to prevent the scattering of
information across various storage sites.
But this federated approach is also prone
to technical difculties.
Two types of data must be federated:
raw data (images, treatment results, etc.),
and so-called symbolic data, which
describes this raw information (the con-
text in which it was collected, the ana-
tomical or pathological characteristics
extracted from an image, etc.). One of
the Credible projects main challenges is
to develop a semantic representation of
this symbolic data to give it scientifc
meaning, he continues. Once harmo-
nized, these usually very heterogeneous
databases can be used for a single national
or even international clinical study.
Analysis of biomedical resources on that
Coping with a Daa Deuge
hIGh PErFormAnCE ComPuTInG
09 the curie
supercomputer
can perform up
to 2 million billion
operations per
second, and store
the equivalent of
7600 years of music
fles. It is located at
bruyres-le-chtel
in the essonne
region (France).
09
04 the simulation
of the universe
developed for the
Deus project will
generate more
than 150 Pb of data.
05 studying the
climate (here a study
of the atmospheric
humidity on June 17,
1993) requires
processing colossal
amounts of data,
which should reach
one zettabyte (zb)
by 2020.
06 Presentation
of the diseases
affecting 7.2 million
americans and their
interrelationships
provided by the mIt.
07 an example
of complex data
representation:
here, a map of
worldwide scientifc
collaborations
between 2005
and 2009.

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L
feld: biomedical research. In the US, the
Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging
Initiative (ADNI) has become one of the
largest public image databases dedicated
to a single pathology. It compiles
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI),
nuclear medicine examinations, and
spinal taps for cerebrospinal fuid. ADNI
already contains more than 5000 MRI
images from 2000 patients.
With the advent of digital technolo-
gies, the amount of information from
biomedical imaging has considerably
increased over the past decade, says
Johan Montagnat, CNRS senior
researcher at the I3S
2
laboratory in
Sophia Antipolis. He is also Mastodons
coordinator for the Credible project,
Focus
2o w
scale would provide researchers with a
new way of addressing todays healthcare
challenges.
CovETED DATA
It is easy to get lost in the depths of Big
Data. Its analysis needs to be handled by
experts: data mining specialists, who need
to bring to the surface the knowledge
buried under the mass of digital informa-
tion. Tis difcult algorithmic work is
similar to sifing through a draughtboard
with billions of rows and columns to
identify a handful of repeated pat-
terns,explains Jean-Franois Boulicaut,
researcher at the LIRIS
3
in Villeurbanne.
With his team, he is currently applying
this expertise to the analysis of large vol-
umes of urban and environmental data
(the Amadouer project). Tis project ex-
plores the databases of the greater Lyon
area to collect information on road trafc,
energy, and pollution. Once analyzed, this
data may be used to devise, for instance, a
new transportation policy for the city
center. Tere is however a downside: this
type of information is of great interest to
the private sector, which would like to use
it for commercial purposes, sometimes at
the expense of the scientifc community.
Twenty years ago, a company wanted to
buy the rights to the digital photos held by
the association of French museums,
notes Boulicaut. As the quality of digital
pictures could not rival that of flm-based
photography at the time, the Ministry of
Culture almost agreed, before deciding
against it. Todays politicians will hope-
fully be as clear-sighted with respect to the
Big Data gold rush.
0l Labo:ao:e oo:macue oe C:eobe CNRS /
Uve:se oe C:eobe, , ao / su
oyechcue oe C:eobe}
02 o:macue, sgaux sysemes oe Soha /os
CNRS / :a / Uve:se oe Nce Soha /os}
03 Labo:ao:e oo:macue e mage e sysemes
oo:mao CNRS / Uve:se Cauoe Be:a:o /
Uve:se Lyo / sa / Lcoe ce:ae oe Lyo}
T
he constantly generated food of
data must be stored somewhere.
Te obvious solution is to multiply
the number of storage units like hard
disks on computers or memory chips on
mobile devices (see box). While this gen-
eral principle can apply to massive
amounts of data, its implementation is
not yet well defned. Tink of storage as
a construction site, says Patrick
Valduriez, Inria senior researcher at the
LIRMM.
1
Speeding up operations
means hiring more workers. But coordi-
nating their activities also becomes more
complex. In other words, piling up stor-
age systems is not enough: the way they
work together must also be optimized.
Tis is all the more difcult as, in addition
to being plentiful, the data is heteroge-
neous and dynamic.
Hence the emergence of new ways to
store information, notably driven by
Internet giants like Google which need to
keep track of billions of Web pages. With
huge amounts of data, we have seen the
advent of specifc massively parallel solu-
tions which involve dividing the task so
that many machines address specific
parts, explains Valduriez.
BloomInG DATACEnTErs
Datacenters housing these massively
parallel computing and storage systems
are cropping up all over the world. Tis
is particularly true in colder regions since
all these machines require continuous
watercooling, which becomes expensive,
adds Valduriez. These centers are ac-
cessed via a private network or the
Internet. Te system, known as cloud
computing, makes it possible to rent
storage space or even computing time,
either temporarily or permanently (see
fgure below). Tis is the model used for
Amazons Elastic Compute Cloud, a
service mainly targeting businesses, or
marie-Christine rousset
> marie-christine.rousset@imag.fr
Johan montagnat
> johan@i3s.unice.fr
Jean-Franois Boulicaut
> jean-francois.boulicaut@insa-lyon.fr
Daa So:age
A Teething Problem
Internet or
private network
Supplier
Users
Storage
Applications
Computing server
Mobile Personal
Computer
Enterprise
ClouD ComPuTInG

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2 Focus
for Google Apps and Apples iCloud, de-
signed for consumer services such as
computers, tablets, or smartphones. Tis
solution is cost-efective for consumers,
who only pay for what they need. But it
also has a drawback: Tese services may
be attractive to companies for non-stra-
tegic data, but it is difcult to fully trust
the system. Amazon has already had a
failure so massive that data could not be
recovered, Valduriez points out.
hIGh sECurITy nEEDs
Tese concerns are slowing the develop-
ment of cloud computing. Many compa-
nies are reluctant to use it for confdenti-
ality reasons, explains Vronique Cortier
of the LORIA.
2
Most of the time, servers
store data in a legible format, making it
accessible to any employee who manages
the server. To solve this problem, data
must be encrypted on the client system
before it is sent to the cloud. Research is
underway to develop such a solution. But
it makes data access more complex and
increases calculation timeand cost.
Tere is another weakness: clouds
provide a central point of entry making
them vulnerable to piracy. Since many
sites use a single access control for all
their services (email, calendars, docu-
ments), a successful attack can cause a lot
of damage, notes Hubert Comon-Lundh,
who works on computer protocol security
at the LSV
3
in Cachan. To counter this
threat, research has focused on detecting
attacks before they occur and on creating
data silos to compartmentalize informa-
tion. In Europe, the issue of data security
and confdentiality is all the more impor-
tant since suppliers such as Amazon and
Google are American corporations and
therefore subject to the Patriot Act. Tis
law, adopted by the US Congress follow-
ing the September 11 attacks, gives the
federal government the right to access
data hosted on the server of any American
company, wherever the server is located.
Tis extra-territorial right of access is
worrisome and seems to be holding back
European users. Te European Union is
on a completely diferent tack: Te EU
recently initiated legislative reform to
reinforce protection of data pertaining to
its businesses and citizens, notes
Valduriez. Tis political choice could well
help Europe catch up with the Americans
in the cloud.
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mc:oeec:ocue oe 'oee: CNRS / Uve:se
'oee:}
02 Labo:ao:e o::a oe :eche:che e o:macue e
ses acaos CNRS / Uve:se oe Lo::ae /
:a}
03 Labo:ao:e seccao e ve:cao CNRS / LNS
Cacha}
hubert Comon-lundh
> comon@lsv.ens-cachan.fr
vronique Cortier
> veronique.cortier@loria.fr
Patrick valduriez
> patrick.valduriez@lirmm.fr
10
sTorAGE soluTIons
10 a 10,000 m
2
google
datacenter located
in council bluffs,
Iowa (us).
11 Facebook will set
up a datacenter in
sweden in order to
optimize cooling
(artists rendition).
11
/
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Magnetic hard disks remain the most
widespread medium for storing the
exponential fow of data. A hard disk drive
contains a set of glass or metal discs
spinning at high speed (usually 7200 RPM)
inside a sealed case. Each disc is covered
with a magnetic layer where the data is
recorded. Today, commercial hard disks
store around 15 gigabytes per square
centimeter, a fgure that may double by
2016. Besides, hard disks offer much better
performance than either optical discs (CDs
and DVDs) or holographic optical discs
which are struggling to enter the mass
market. Meanwhile, hard disk prices have
plummeted. When IBM presented its frst
incarnation in 1956, it cost 8 million to
store one gigabyte, compared to a few euro
cents today. As a result, magnetic tape,
which is ten times cheaper, is the only
technology that can compete on price.
Tapes have a major drawback, however:
they are slow and therefore can only serve
to store infrequently-used data. Finally,
fash memory, the storage technology
found in most mobile devices, is becoming
increasingly popular. It reads data faster
than hard disks, and its price/performance
ratio is shrinking fast.
28 w | In Images
Preservation For 50 years, Frances prestigious
center for heritage preservation has been hard at
work, using cutting-edge technology to protect
some of the worlds oldest remaining documents.
BY vah ter mInassIan
T
he ffth and sixth foors of the Grande
Galerie de lEvolution building, located in
Pariss Jardin des Plantes, are home to one of
the countrys main institutions for heritage
preservation: the CRCC,
1
a Mecca for conservation.
Here, chemists, physicists, and microbiologists
combine their eforts to study how graphic material
and other documents deteriorate over time. Te
Center was founded in 1963 to analyze the mold that
had ravaged libraries during the Second World War.
A better understanding of the phenomenon would
enable scientists to slow it down and, eventually,
contain it.
Since its creation, the CRCC has obviously
evolved and extended its scope of research. In Paris,
most of its premises now house specialists in a vari-
ety of felds, such as leather and parchment, photo-
02
01

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a photo gallery is available
on the online version of the magazine:
Preserving
Ancient Documents
29 w In Images |
01 the crcc team specializes in
iron gall ink, used in manuscripts
for centuries.
02 When it was established in 1963,
the laboratory focused its research
on the preservation of collections
damaged by molds, such as those
that have proliferated on this old
entomology plate.
03 04 researchers are looking at
a certain type of stain called foxing,
which appears on old books.
05 the stains of a single book may contain
more than one hundred species of mold,
which are identifed by molecular biology
techniques.
06 microbiologist malalanirina
rakotonirainy analyzes library mold
samples sent by a curator.
07 here, scientists are studying the brown
lines that form at the wet-dry interface
when paper is moistened. the project,
called tidelines, aims to provide
alternative treatments for restoration
teams, who often use water.
graphs, plastic, natural history specimens, as well as
issues regarding lighting and art display. In
Champs-sur-Marne, east of Paris, the CRCCs
recently- afliated partner laboratory, the LRMH,
2

deals mainly with stone, stained glass, concrete,
and decorated caves.
Te CRCCs diversifcation has by no means
been detrimental to its work on graphic documents,
stresses the centers director Bertrand Lavdrine.
Indeed, microbiologist Malalanirina Rakotonirainy
is happy to show of the laboratorys carefully refrig-
erated fungus collection. With its 120 strains of
molds and yeasts that regularly plague libraries, the
collection is key to the consulting services provided
by the researcher and her team to curators, who send
samples for analysis. It is also used for advanced
molecular biology research on stains such as the
reddish-brown foxing that ofen afects old books.
On the foor below, scientists are working on
so-called tide lines. Researcher Anne-Laurence
Dupont and her colleagues are involved in an exten-
sive international program to study the brown lines
that appear at the wet-dry interface when paper
comes into contact with water. Tey are also investi-
03
06 07
04
05
30 | In Images
fate, gum arabic, and oak galls, it poses a recurrent
problem for librarians, the scientist explains. Over
time, it difuses through the paper, browns the back
and damages the cellulose, creating splits and holes.
Once researchers had established that the iron(II)
sulfate contained in the ink was the main culprit for
this chemical degradation, they artifcially repro-
duced the efect in order to determine the most
effective treatment for severely damaged
documents. This important study, which lasted
approximately 10 years and was partly conducted at
the SOLeIL synchrotron facility, south of Paris,
enabled scientists to propose novel treatments that
simply require contact with an interleaved sheet
impregnated with active products, rather than com-
plete immersion in a solution. Tis result perfectly
refects the CRCCs mission of preserving the past
through innovation.
01. centre de recherche sur la conservation des collections (cnrs /
Mnhn / Mcc).
02. laboratoire de recherche des monuments historiques (Mcc).
03. laboratoire Archologies et sciences de lantiquit (cnrs /
universit Paris-ouest-nanterre-la Dfense / universit
Paris-i-Panthon-sorbonne / Mcc).
crcc, Paris.
Bertrand Lavdrine
> lavedrin@mnhn.fr
08 crcc specialists need to evaluate
restoration processes for paper damaged by
old inks. to do so, they take samples from old
documents to study their behavior.
09 10 other research focuses on the
preservation of old manuscripts. new paper
is impregnated with ink and subjected to
different environments to analyze its
behavior. using this methodology, researchers
were able to develop a new technique
to stabilize badly damaged paper.
11 some old documents made from
unpurifed wood pulp fall victim to
acidifcation and are diffcult to handle.
the crcc is developing treatments to
simultaneously strengthen and de-acidify the
paper, whose mechanical properties are then
tested by scientists, as shown here.
gating a new solvent-based process, which uses
compounds called aminoalkyl alkoxysilanes, to
strengthen papers significantly weakened by
time-induced acidifcation. As an example, Dupont
slides one such document out of a draweran old
newspaper in a plastic sleeve, which would crumble
if handled directly.
Newspapers are not the only treasures hidden in
the conservation centers cupboards. Researcher
Vronique Rouchon has just fnished examining one
of the oldest pieces of paper in the world, a 2000-year-
old sample discovered by ArScAn
3
researchers Jean-
Paul Desroches, Guilhem Andr, and their team
during a French archeological mission in Mongolia
in 2006. It has been carefully preserved in a polysty-
rene box ever since. Rouchon and her colleagues also
study iron gall ink. In Western europe, from the
Middle Ages to the 19th century, most writing was
made with this type of ink. Containing ferrous sul-
11
08
09
10

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N28 I quarterly I JaNuary 2013
31 Insights |
By CharlINe ZeItouN
B
ased on current knowledge,
there is no certainty that extrac-
tion of shale gas and oil by
hydraulic fracturing poses no signif-
cant threat to health and the environ-
ment, said an official statement by
Frances President Franois Hollande in
September. Since this technique, now
banned by French authorities, is the only
known extraction method, recent appli-
cations for permits in France have all
been rejected.
FracturIng rock
Shale gas is trapped in low porosity rocks
located at depths of 2000 to 3000 meters,
and it doesnt rise to the surface on its
own, unlike commonly exploited natural
gas, explains geologist Bruno Gof. To
extract it, the most obvious solution is to fracture the rock in
order to let it seep through. Tis is done by drilling into the
source rock and setting of small explosions to pierce the wall
of the tube inserted into the wellbore. Hundreds of cubic meters
of water mixed with sand and gelling agents are then injected
into the wellbore at high pressure to create and propagate cracks
in the rock, and ensure that they remain open. By decompres-
sion, the gas is then brought to the surface, together with the
injected water and that contained in the rock, Gof explains.
causes For concern
In Switzerland, France, and the UK, this technique has been
known to trigger earthquakes, albeit of little magnitude (2-3 on
the Richter scale). And these risks can be controlled, Gof
more. Other techniques could potentially
be used that have not yet been tested. One
of these is the thermal method, which
consists in heating the rock so as to force
the water up to the surface and bring the
gas with it. Lastly, it is essential to im-
prove our knowledge of the underground
by carrying out basic research. Tis is
where public research comes in. It would
enable us to identify and anticipate prob-
lems, adapt our legislation, and undertake
monitoring and observation in the long
run, says Gof. Tese studies would also
make it possible to get a clearer picture of
Frances underground resources, whether
renewable or not.
01. Centre europen de recherche et denseignement de
gosciences de lenvironnement (CNRS /
Aix-Marseille Universit / IRD / Collge de France).
Environment Following the recent French ban on shale gas extraction by hydraulic
fracturing, CEREGE
1
researcher Bruno Goff assesses progress on alternatives.
Shale Gas Extraction:
alternatives needed
CoNtaCt INformatIoN:
CereGe, aix-en-Provence.
Bruno goff
> goffe@cerege.fr
q these sediment
layers, 300 million
years old, contain
shale gas (oklahoma,
uS).
points out. Te issue of ground water
contamination by shale gas, chemicals
mixed with water, or subsequently-added
solvents, has also been raised. Tis has
in fact happened, but it isnt due to the
extraction process in itself, he adds. It
stems from bad practice, especially in
countries where public standards are not
as rigorous as in France, leading to poorly-
sealed wellbores or the improper use of
hazardous products that are sometimes
directly discharged into watercourses.
alternatIve technIques
First of all, the chemicals used for hy-
draulic fracturing can be replaced by
environmentally-friendly products, such
as gelling agents used in food processing,
Goff explains. Using microporous
minerals called zeolites as a model, it
should be possible to design novel blends
which, once pumped in, crystallize as a
porous material that lets the gas through,
while keeping pollutants in. But theres

D
o
C
P
I
x
Bruno goFF
a specialist in geological resources, he is a
scientific representative at CNrSs National
Institute for earth Sciences and astronomy
(INSu), and a senior researcher at the european
Center for research and teaching in
environmental Geosciences (CereGe).
D
R
Horizons | CNRS Networks
32 w
by sverIne lemaIre-Duparcq
E
ach year, some 200,000 students
from China, India, and
Malaysianot to mention
Canada and the USenroll in
Australian and New Zealand universities.
In the past few years, Australia has be-
come the worlds third-largest host
country for foreign students, afer the US
and the UK, outranking France, now in
fourth place. What draws so many young
scholars to these countries?
Australias key to success is its re-
markably dense education network, with
some 40 universities across the country,
19 of which were ranked among the
worlds best in 2012.
1
Tese establish-
ments, mostly public, are based on the
British model and interconnected
through well-organized scholastic
networks, such as the Group of
Eight, a coalition of universities that
includes the University of Melbourne
and the Australian National University
in Canberra.
Tere are, of course, close links bet-
ween education and research, and
Australia also champions the latter
through a forward-looking policy that
has placed the country in the worlds top
15 for R&D spending, number of re-
searchers, scientific production, and
patent fling. While the continent-nation
is aware of its assets80% endemic fora,
Great Barrier Reef, proximity to the
South Poleit also has its weaknesses
vulnerability to natural disasters, environmental imbalances,
and geographic isolationand hopes to beneft from innovative
research to meet its many challenges. Its national research
agency, the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientifc and Industrial
Research Organization), includes 12 research divisions and 5
innovation precincts. It has undertaken 11 Flagship programs
which are priority thematic areas for the country, including
adaptation to climate change, energy transformation, the food
supply of the future, and preventive
health.
As a result, Australia and the 27
members of the European Union are on
par with regard to several disciplines,
such as the Earth sciences, plant and ani-
mal sciences, and physics. Te country is
at the forefront in fields like clinical
medicine, ecology, mathematics, and
space sciences. For example, Australia
will host, together with South Africa, the
antennas and receptors of the Square
Kilometer Array (SKA), which will be the
largest and most sensitive radio telescope
of its kind ever built.
A GREEN NEIGhboR
Two thousand kilometers to the south-
east, New Zealand enjoys a scientific
reputation founded on Green Growth,
sustainable development, and biosafety,
stemming from a long tradition of envi-
ronmental protection. Te countrys re-
search network comprises eight universi-
tiesfve of which are included in the
2012 Shanghai rankingscompeting for
Pacific Australia attracts students and researchers from all over the world
much like New Zealand, whose commitment to Green Growth is exemplary.
Australia and New Zealand:
Life-Size Laboratories
01
kEy fIGURES
australIa new zealanD
22.5 4.4 MIllIoN INhAbItANtS
2.2% 1.3% of GDP AlloCAtED to R&D IN 2010
27,000 4800 ANNUAl PUblICAtIoNS
3% 0.5% of woRlDwIDE PUblICAtIoNS IN 2010
137,000 85,000 R&D PERSoNNEl IN 2010
n28 I quarterly I january 2013
33 CNRS Networks | Horizons w
New Zealand are both closely involved in
the EU-funded Framework Programmes
(FP). For example, four research platform
projects have been developed with the
two countries as part of the bilateral
science and technology cooperation
(BILAT) agreements initiated to
promote partnerships between the EU
and various countries. CNRS is involved
in the most recent of these collaborations,
a strategic exchange network called
FRIENZ (Facilitating Research and
Innovation Cooperation between Europe
and New Zealand).
Trough the EU Seventh Framework
Programme (FP7), France has become a
close partner with both countries, play-
ing an active role in 80 of the 120 projects
with Australia and 20 of the 30 programs
set up in partnership with New Zealand.
CNRS is participating in 25 European
projects involving Australia, especially in
the information and communication
sciences and technologies (ICST), but
also in health, the environment, and
astronomy. It is also part of a network of
excellence with the University of
Auckland in New Zealand.
Moreover, the two countries have
initiated bilateral support programs
called Hubert Curien Partnerships
2

with France to facilitate researcher
mobility. Between 2009 and 2012, some
40 projects associating France and
Australia or New Zealand involved
CNRS, mainly in ICST.
These collaborations have made
France the sixth most important scien-
tific partner of Australia and New
Zealand in terms of international
co-publications, of which 50% involve
CNRS laboratories.
CNRS CoMMIttED to thE REGIoN
Emblematic of the close cooperation be-
tween CNRS and Australia, a specifc
agreement was signed in 2011 for the es-
tablishment of a center of excellence in
the Earth sciences at the Macquarie
University in New South Wales. It brings
together teams from CNRS and
Australian universities, as well as from
Canada, the US, Germany, and China.
Seven CNRS structuring initiatives
are also underway with the two countries,
including the Biodiversity of Coral Reef
International Research Network and the
recent l y-founded Internat ional
Associated Laboratory TransOceanik
(see box). Five fruitful cooperation proj-
ects are currently active, four with
Australia, (three in biomedicine and one
in cryptography), and one with New
Zealand (in plant biodiversity). Other
operations will follow in 2013, confrm-
ing CNRSs commitment and capacity to
forge international scientific partner-
ships, whatever the distance.
01. As rated by Jiao Tong University, Shanghai.
02. Fast (French Australian Science and Technology),
followed by Fasic (France-Australia Science
Innovation Collaboration) since 2012 for Australia;
Dumont dUrville for New Zealand. These programs
are managed in France by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs with the support of the Ministry of Higher
Education and Research.
DercI, paris.
Chantal khan-Malek
> chantal.khan-malek@cnrs-dir.fr
The frst French-Australian International Associated
Laboratory (LIA) in the humanities and social sciences was
set up in January 2012. TransOceaniks
1
aim is to compare the
social, cultural, and political creative
responses of different ethnic and
regional groups from the tropical belt
to the various types of discrimination
they face as a result of colonialism.
The LIA brings together 13 French
anthropologists from the LAS,
2
an
interdisciplinary team from James Cook
University (JCU), as well as 20 PhD
students and postdocs. It is co-directed
by LAS professorial researcher Barbara
Glowczewski and professor Ton Otto
from the Cairns Institute (JCU).
01. Interactive research, mapping, and creative
agency in the Pacifc, the Indian Ocean, and
the Atlantic.
02. Laboratoire danthropologie sociale (CNRS /
EHESS / Collge de France).
tRANSoCEANIk: ASSESSING thE IMPACt of ColoNIAlISM
Melbourne
Auckland
australia
new
zealand
Canberra
ChinA
indiA MAlAysiA

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top-level native and foreign students. It also includes the Crown
Research Institutes, eight centers of excellence of world repute.
Te island nation has developed internationally-recognized
expertise in felds like climate change, Antarctica research, ice
and rock drilling, and paleoclimatology.
Drawing strength from their diferences, Australia and
01 artists rendition
of the future sKa
dishes in australia.
02 the far northern
section of the great
Barrier reef, as seen
from space.
03 transoceanik
research at the 2012
festival for pacifc
arts, which brings
together 33 countries
every 4 years.
02
03

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| CNRS Networks
34 w
BY arby gharIbIan
M
any of the pressing challenges
facing governments today
transcend national borders
and require new and deeper forms of in-
ternational collaboration. Hence the de-
cision by CNRS and MIT to form an
International Joint Unit (UMI MIT-
CNRS), a laboratory that brings together
researchers from both institutions on
MITs campus at Cambridge (US). Last
June, MIT President Susan Hockfield
and CNRS President Alain Fuchs inau-
gurated the UMI Multi-Scale Materials
for Energy and Environment (MSE), and
indicated that it would mark the begin-
ning of a broader partnership between
the two organizations in the areas of
education, training, and research.
MSE expands on the important
work undertaken by MIT teams at the
Concrete Sustainability Hub and the
X-Shale Hub research centers, explains
Roland Pellenq, senior research scientist
at CNRS and at MIT, and co-director of
the UMI with MIT professor Franz-Josef
Ulm. Te laboratory will study structur-
ally-complex porous substances such as
cement, shale gas, and nuclear fuels using the so-called bottom-
up method. Tis involves holistic analysis over length (from
nanometers to microns) and time (from nanoseconds to hours)
scales to acquire essential knowledge of materials
behavioral properties, which vary depending on life span and
molecular level.
Te recent disasters in Japan and the Gulf of Mexico have
emphasized the need for novel technology in civil engineering,
adds Pellenq. By using fundamental physics to investigate
molecular structure, we can produce materials and energy
sources that are more durable, more stable and, ultimately, more
sustainable.
For example, the production of concrete, the ubiquitous
building material, contributes approximately 5 to 10% of the
worlds CO
2
emissions. Scientists and private sector R&D de-
partments have long tried to
formulate better versions with
little success, primarily be-
cause the main component,
calcium silicate hydrate
(CSH), resisted traditional
forms of investigation.
Combining neutron and
X-Ray scattering, electron microscopy,
and nano-indentation with computa-
tional physics, MIT researchers working
in collaboration with Pellenq were able to
model CSH nanoscale texture and mod-
ify it to make longer-lasting concrete
with a lighter ecological footprint.
Another exciting application is in the
production of shale gas, a cleaner-burning
alternative to coal or petroleum. MSEs
multi-scale approach looks at shale
formations all the way down to the level
of the nanopores where the methane is
stored, to understand why the gas is
sometimes retained rather than released.
Tis knowledge can help render extrac-
tion techniques like hydraulic fracturing
less intrusive and more efcient.
In the wake of the Fukushima
disaster, nuclear fuels will also be
re-assessed taking into account tighter
safety regulations. One concern is that
the uranium bars used in reactors tend to
form pockets of rare gases. Predicting the
multi-scale fracture mechanisms of nu-
clear fuel with such gas inclusions can
make reactors safer.
We are encouraged by the promising
leads and applications of our joint re-
search, concludes Pellenq. We look
forward to partnering with industry both
in France and the US to quickly bring
these innovations to global markets.
MaterialsScience ThefirstInternationalJointUnit(UMI)betweenCNRSandMIT
studiesmulti-scaleporousmaterialsfromanenergeticandenvironmentalstandpoint.
Global Issues
JointResponse
UmI cnrs-mIt, cambridge.
Roland Pellenq
> pellenq@mit.edu
> pellenq@cinam.univ-mrs.fr
01 crystals of
portlandite, the
primary hydration
product of cement
hydration, seen by
scanning electron
microscopy.
02 researchers
use an atomistic
model of crack
development to
understand the
fracture mechanics
of shale gas-bearing
rocks.
D
R
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K
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J
.K
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a
K
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M
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@
M
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01
02
n28 I qUarterly I JanUary 2013
35 CNRS Networks | w
india
wA new French-Indian
International Joint Unit (UMI) in
mathematics was set up in
cooperation with the Indian ministry
of science and technology. the
Indo-french center for applied
mathematics (Ifcam), which will be
based at the Indian Institute of
science in bangalore, will provide a
joint platform for applied
mathematics projects in numerous
felds including computing, statistical
physics, and biology. french partners
include cnrs, the cole Polytechnique,
ens Paris, Inria (national Institute for
research in computer science and
control), and the universities of
nice-sophia-antipolis and Paul-
sabatier in toulouse.
wThe Sino-French program
for environment and
sustainable development
(SEED) held its 5th annual
seminar, focused on key
environmental issues for
marine coastal ecosystems, in
montpellier (france) last
october. more than 80 people
attended the two-day event,
which was jointly organized
by cnrs and the chinese
academy of sciences (cas).
created in 2008, seeD is a
pluridisplinary program that aims to
federate french-chinese cooperation
for the environment and sustainable
development.
the laureates of the 2012 france
talent Innovation program
developed by the french embassy in
china to identify potential partners
took part in the event.
catherine.bastien-ventura
> catherine.bastien-ventura@cnrs-dir.fr
Exotic Nuclei in Action
aLTo
BY Vah ter mInassIan
wIn its shielded cave at the heart of
the TANDEM accelerator building, at
orsays Institute of Nuclear Physics
(IPNorsay),
1
theaLTofacilityisalreadyup
and running. Twenty-four hours a day,
operatorsseatedattwoconsolescontrol
its first production of extraterrestrial
nuclei. These elements, also known as
exoticnuclei,whicharetoounstableor
radioactivetoexistonEarthinthenatu-
ral state, are found in stars and
supernovae.
Researchintoexoticnucleihaslong
beenlimitedbythefactthattheseiso-
topescouldonlybeproducedinminute
quantities. aLTo represents a decisive
step towards solving this problem. by
usingatypeofguntobombardstreams
of electrons onto uranium-238 pellets
heated to over 2000C, the accelerator
generatesthenucleiintheformofara-
dioactive ion beam. Enough nuclei are
produced to enable specialists, using
two sets of measuring instruments, to
determinetheirfundamentalproperties,
including structure, lifetime, and other
characteristics.
Thismorning,theoperatorsarework-
ingonsilver-128nuclei,averyneutron-
rich isotope involved in certain stellar
processes,explainsaLTosleadscientist
David Verney. The acceleratorpracti-
callytheonlyoneofitskindpavesthe
wayfortomorrowsphysicsofexoticnu-
clei. Funded to the tune of 1 million
by a number of French public entities,
2
the installation is scheduled for

inauguration in March 2013. Not
only will it provide physicists with a
wealth of eagerly-awaited results, it
shouldalsogivethemvaluableexpertise
in the techniques to be used
in next-generation facilities like
SPIRaL2,currentlyunderconstructionat
theGanilLaboratoryinCaen.
Each year, some 50 physicists and
astrophysicistswillbeinvitedtoworkat
thelaboratoryheadedbyFaialazaiez,
inanefforttoadvanceourunderstand-
ing of exotic nucleiespecially of new
neutron-rich nuclei, several dozens of
whichwillbestudiedbyaLToforthevery
frsttime.
01. Institutdephysiquenuclairedorsay(IN2P3-CNRS/
UniversitParisSud).
02. TheIle-de-Franceregion,theEssonnedpartement,
theFrenchMinistryofResearch,andCNRS.
contact InformatIon :
alto-IPn, orsay.
David Verney
> verney@ipno.in2p3.fr
qalto's linear
electron
accelerator.
L
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P
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/
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/
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qcas researchers,
laureates of
france talent
Innovation, during
the 2012 seminar
in montpellier.
china
M
a
K
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M
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| CNRS Networks
36 w
EmergingScience Focusedonthemanipulationoffluidsatthesub-millimeterscale,
thisnewdisciplineisfindingapplicationsinavarietyoffields.
Microfluidics:
A Free-Flowing Revolution
laas, toulouse.
Anne-Marie Gu
> anne-marie.gue@laas.fr
BY KheIra bettayeb
M
icrofuidics is one of the ten technologies that will
change the world, according to the prestigious
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At the
interface of biology, chemistry, physics, and microfabrication,
this new science investigates fuids and their manipulation on
a very small scale, from one to a few dozen micrometers
(10
-6
m). It has already revolutionized a number of felds, from
chemistry to biotechnology. And the best is yet to come: most
of its potential applications are still in the research phasein-
cluding at CNRS, where some 40 teams are working on micro-
fuidics. First developed in the early 1990s, the discipline proved
to be of great value in genomics, which required new bioanalyti-
cal tools that could perform several thousand analyses simulta-
neously. But the disciplines real boom came with the introduc-
tion of LOC, for lab-on-a-chip: a single chip measuring a few
square centimeters integrating an entire analysis chain that
normally requires large-scale laboratory equipment.
A RANGE oF APPlICATIoNS
European researchers are at the forefront
of this emerging science. Indeed, they
developed the frst devices based on mi-
croscopic fuid fow channels. Not only
do these tools make high-throughput
analyses possible, they also reduce their
duration and require smaller amounts of
sample materials and reagents, thus cut-
ting costs, explains Anne-Marie Gu of
CNRSs LAAS
1
in Toulouse, and co-
director of the Micro-nanosystems and
Micro-nanofluidics research network
(GDR). LOC systems, some of which are
already available on the market, are key
to the disciplines expansion. Te objec-
tive is to apply this technology to felds
like medicine (especially for diagnoses),
the food industry (e.g., for the detection
of contaminants), or environmental
protection (identifying pollutants in
water, etc.). Microfuidics has also proved
highly effective for the synthesis and
structuring of innovative materials, such
as nanoparticles. Tese materials can be
used to generate specifc optical proper-
ties or to create multiple emulsion systems
(droplets encapsulated in other droplets)
which of fer better control of
the drop size, for example to delay the
release of an active ingredient in a skin-
care formula.
MAkING STRIDES
In parallel, microfuidics also advances
theoretical knowledge of small-scale fuid
fows. Fluids in micrometricor even
smallersystems behave according to
distinct physical principles with a range
of previously unknown efects. What are
the physical characteristics of micro-
liquids that are in contact with solids?
How do they fow on the nanometric
scale? How can a drop or bubble be
manipulated within a maze of channels?
These are some of the intriguing
questions that the researchers hope to
answer. Recent breakthroughs in the
discipline include the discovery that light,
under certain conditions, can spread a
droplet of water across a Tefon-lined sili-
con surface,
2
or that water fows much
faster than predicted in carbon nano-
tubes due to reduced friction inside the
tubes.
3
Unexpected properties like these
could further expand the applications of
this promising new discipline.
01. Laboratoiredanalyseetdarchitecturedes
systmes(CNRS/UniversitToulouse-III/INSa
Toulouse/INPToulouse).
02. S.arscott,MovingLiquidswithLight:Photoelec-
trowettingonSemiconductors,Scientifc Reports,
2011.1(184).doi:10.1038/srep00184
03. K.Falketal.,MolecularoriginofFastwaterTrans-
portinCarbonNanotubeMembranes:Superlubric-
ityversusCurvatureDependentFriction,Nano
Letters,2010.10:4067-73.
q this lab-on-a-
chip uses a
magnetic feld
produced by
microcoils to sort
cells for analysis.
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n28 I qUarterly I JanUary 2013
37 CNRS Networks |
DIre, Paris.
karine Wecker-Blanda
> dire-communication@cnrs-dir.fr
BY Jean-PhIlIPPe braly
wWith more than 4400 patents, 743
joint ownership agreements, several
dozenframeworkagreementswithbusi-
nesses, and 670 spin-offs created since
2001,CNRSisanactiveplayerintechnol-
ogy transfers. but its Innovation and
business Relations Department (DIRE)
aimsmuchhigher.Inordertoencourage
newindustrialpartnerships,theDIREre-
cently disclosed a list of 45 Strategic
PillarsofInnovation(axesstratgiques
dinnovation or aSI), namely existing
areasofresearchatCNRSwithastrong
economic potential. These range from
virtualrealitytogenetherapy,aswellas
pollutionclean-up,fnance,spintronics,
imaging,andcarbondioxidecapture.The
DIREhasidentifedtheleadingresearch-
ersandtheirlaboratoriesforeachdisci-
pline,alongwiththenumberofpatents,
contracts, publications, and particular
expertiseofeachunit.
Thisproject,whichwasinitiatedin
2011, identifies the research domains
whereCNRSisattheforefront,interms
of human resources (internationally-
renownedteams),facilities(cutting-edge
equipment), and knowledge (patents,
The 45 Pillars of
Innovation
publications, know-how, etc.). aSIs are
open-endedandtheywillbefrequently
updated according to our strategic
objectives and activities monitoring,
saysDIREdirectorPierreGohar.
Theseresearchareasalreadyserve
as the basis for scientific cooperation
between CNRS and large corporations
such as air Liquide, EaDS, or Renault,
enlightening all potential partners
aboutthebeneftsthatCNRSexpertise
couldbringtotheirprojects.
aSIs offer other advantages for
CNRS, starting with enhanced visibility
intheever-changingworldofscientifc
innovation. we wanted to make our
assets more visible, easier to compre-
hend,andmoreattractivetoR&Dstake-
holders,especiallytopotentialindustrial
partners,addsGohar.Thisisessential
at a time where rapid development of
open innovation pushes businesses to
set up partnerships to carry out their
researchprojects.
TechnologyTransfer
q research on
infectious diseases
is one of cnrss 45
strategic Pillars of
Innovation.
E
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and more news...
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germany i
on November 9, 2012,
an agreement was signed towards the creation of
a new International Associated Laboratory (LIA)
that will focus on the study of a signaling pathway
involved in the immune response of both the
drosophila and the insect anopheles gambiae, the
vector of malaria. The ultimate goal is to breed
insects that are resistant to Plasmodium
falciparum, the parasite responsible for the
disease. Created for 4 years, it will bring together a
German team from the Max Planck Society and a
French lab from CNRS and Inserm.
1
01.Rponseimmunitaireetdveloppementchezlesinsectes
(CNRS/Inserm).
russia i
on November 29, 2012, a scientifc
cooperation agreement was signed in
Moscow forthecreationofaFrench-Siberian
trainingandresearchcenter.Frenchpartners
intheprojectincludeCNRS,Inserm(French
NationalInstituteofHealthandMedical
Research),Inalco(FrenchNationalInstituteof
orientalLanguagesandCivilizations),and18
universities,whileRussianpartnersconsistofthe
SiberianbranchoftheacademyofSciencesand
14universities.Theagreementisintendedto
increasescientifccollaborationandhigh-level
traininginvariousdisciplinesincluding
chemistry,theEarthsciences,biologyand
ecology,tonamebutafew.
cnrs office in the us i
The CNRS offce in Washington
has a new management team.
Xavier Morise, CNRS researcher, was
appointed director, and Jean Thves,
research engineer, flls the newly-
created position of deputy director in
charge of reinforcing CNRS's actions
in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
q Anopheles
gambiae
mosquitoes are
the main vector
of malaria.
| CNRS Facts and Figures
38 w
Founded in 1939 by governmental
decree, CNRS is the largest
fundamental research organization
in Europe.
CNRSisinvolvedinallscientifc
feldsthroughtenspecializedinstitutes
dedicatedto:
qLifesciences
qPhysics
qNuclearandParticlePhysics
qChemistry
qMathematics
qInformationtechnologies
qEarthsciencesandAstronomy
qHumanitiesandSocialsciences
qEnvironmentalsciencesand
Sustainabledevelopment
qEngineering
CNRSresearchunitsareeitherfullyfunded
andmanagedbyCNRS,orruninpartnershipwith
universities,otherresearchorganizations,or
industry.TheyarespreadacrossFrance,andemploy
alargenumberofpermanentresearchers,
engineers,technicians,andadministrativestaff.
TheCNRSannualbudgetrepresentsone-
quarterofFrenchpublicspendingoncivilian
research.Thisbudgetisco-fundedbythepublic
sectorandbyCNRS,whoserevenuestreamsinclude
EUresearchcontractsandroyaltiesonpatents,
licenses,andservicesprovided.CNRSs 2013 budget
is 3.4 billion.
CNRSemployssome34,000staff,including
11,400researchersand14,200engineersand
technicians.About93%ofits1200research
unitsarejointlaboratorieswithuniversities
andindustry.
DERCI, an offce dedicated to
European and international
collaborations.
CNRScarriesoutresearchactivities
throughouttheworld,incollaboration
withlocalpartners,thuspursuingan
activeinternationalpolicy.
TheEuropeanResearchand
InternationalCooperationDepartment
(DirectionEuropedelarechercheet
cooprationinternationale(DERCI))
coordinatesandimplementsCNRS
policiesinEuropeandworldwide,
andmaintainsdirectrelationswithits
institutionalpartnersabroad.
Tocarryoutitsmission,theDERCI
reliesonanetworkof11representative
offcesabroad,aswellasonscienceand
technologyoffcesinFrenchembassies
aroundtheworld.
> derci@cnrs-dir.fr
websIte:
> www.cnrs.fr/derci
Trimestriel - January2013
Editorial Offices: 1, placeAristideBriand/ F-92195MeudonCedexPhone: +33(0)145075375Fax: +33(0)145075668Email: cnrs-magazine@cnrs-dir.fr Website: www.cnrs.fr
CNRS(headquarters): 3rueMichel Ange/ F-75794Pariscedex16
Publisher: AlainFuchsEditorial Director: BrigittePeruccaDeputyEditorial Director: FabriceImpriali Editor: IsabelleTratner
ProductionManager: LaurenceWinter Writers: StphanieArc, Jean-PhilippeBraly, KheiraBettayeb, LaureCailloce, DenisDelbecq, EddyDelcher,
FabriceDemarthon, GrgoryFlchet, ArbyGharibian, Brett Kraabel, SverineLemaire-Duparcq, Fui LeeLuk, VahTer Minassian, MarkReynolds, TomRidgway,
ClmentineWallace, KatiaYezli, andCharlineZeitoun.
TranslationManager: ValerieHerczegCopyEditors: SamanMusacchioandValerieHerczegGraphicDesign: ClineHeinIconography: StphanieTritzand
AudreyDiguetCover Illustration: C. Heinfor CNRSinternational magazine; Avian/Fotolia; Datagif/CNRS
Photoengraving: ScoopCommunication/ F- 92100BoulognePrinting: GroupeMorault,ImprimeriedeCompigne2,avenueBerthelotZacdeMercires
BP6052460205CompigneCedexISSN1778-1442AIP0001308
CNRSPhotosareavailableat: phototheque@cnrs-bellevue.fr ; http://phototheque.cnrs.fr
All rightsreserved. Partial or full reproductionof articlesor illustrationsisstrictlyprohibitedwithout prior writtenpermissionfromCNRS.
internationalmagazine
TheCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique
(NationalCenterforScientificResearch)isagovernment-
fundedresearchorganizationundertheadministrative
authorityofFrancesMinistryofResearch.
q cnrss headquarters in Paris.
N
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kEy FIguRES
CNRS SuppoRtS 600 SCIENtIFIC
CollaboRatIvE StRuCtuRED pRojECtS
aCRoSS thE woRlD
331
International Programs for
scientific cooperation (PIcs)
127
International associated
laboratories (lIa)
112
International research
networks (gDrI)
30
International Joint Units
(UmI)
39 Snapshot |
N28 I quarterly I jaNuary 2013
Wild vs Mutant
BY Isabelle tratNer
wAre these strange creatures hud-
dling or fighting each other? they
actually belong to the plant kingdom,
and more precisely to the species
Arabidopsis thaliana, a plant model
widely used in molecular biology. the
photograph (propidium iodine stain-
ing and confocal microcopy) shows
plant embryos that were dissected out
of the seed coat that protects them, to
see the effect of the mutation of the
major plant cell cycle regulator CDKa.
While the absence of the homologous
enzyme is lethal in mice, mutant plant
embryos can germinate and develop
into mature but severely compromised
and sterile plants. remarkably, the mu-
tant embryos (right), although com-
posed of much fewer cells, reach the
same size as wild-type ones (left) with a
width of approximately 200 m, high-
lighting the tremendous developmen-
tal plasticity of plants. this image was
obtained by arp schnittgers team,
who specializes in plant cell cycle at the
IbMP laboratory.
1
01. Institut de biologie molculaire des plantes
(CNrs).

CoNtaCtINforMatIoN:
IbMP, strasbourg.
Arp Schnittger
> arp.schnittger@ibmp-cnrs.unistra.fr

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international magazine

n28 I quarterly I January 2013

Every two days, we

emails are exchanged

emails are exchanged

n28 I quarterly I January 2013

the installation is scheduled for

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